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VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE 


A  NOVEL 


BY 


EDMUND     PENDLETON 

AUTHOR  OF  "A  CONVENTIONAL  BOHEMIAN" 


FEW  YORK 
D.  APPLETON   AND    COMPANY 

1896 


COPYRIGHT,  1888, 
BY  D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved. 


TO  THAT  MOST  GENTLE  CRITIC 

MY    MOTHER 

THIS  BOOK   IS   DEDICATED  BY  HEE   SON 

THE  AUTHOE 


2137816 


A  VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MBS.  POLLIVER  JONES  entertained  that  night. 
From  her  brown-stone  front  an  awning  stretched  to 
the  curb.  The  long-suffering  pedestrians,  whose 
rights  were  thus  infringed,  passing  through  the  little 
transverse  tunnels  kindly  left  for  their  accommoda- 
tion, imprinted  tracks  of  their  plebeian  feet  on  the 
carpet  which  supplemented  the  awning  in  its  endeav- 
or to  protect  the  guests  of  No.  —  Fifth  Avenue  from 
the  inclemency  of  a  February  snow-storm.  From  op- 
posite the  house  a  glaring  electric  light  cast  now 
elongating,  now  contracting  shadows  of  the  hurrying 
vehicles,  and  made  surrounding  objects  mysterious 
and  ghostly  with  its  flickering  intensity.  The  usual 
roar  of  the  street  was  deadened  by  the  white  covering 
to  the  stones,  and  on  everything  within  sight  descend- 
ed the  silent  snow,  cold  as  human  charity,  pure  and 
impartial  as  the  divine. 

Carriage  after  carriage  rolled  up  to  the  door,  and, 
depositing  its  aggregate  of  silks  and  diamonds,  broad- 
cloth and  humanity,  each  in  turn  silently  hurried 
away  and  was  lost  in  the  uncertain  distance. 

It  was  the  night  of  nights  for  Mrs.  Polliver  Jones. 
Twenty  years  of  struggle  with  adverse  circumstances 


Q  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

were  ended,  and  ending  left  her  the  victor.  Behold 
this  plucky  little  woman  at  the  top  of  "the  best  so- 
ciety "  ladder,  and  quite  ready  to  push  less  successful 
aspirants  off  the  lower  rounds  !  She  had  been  heavily 
weighted  with  ungrammatical,  ungenteel  Jones  and 
the  fact  that  her  grandfather  had  kept  a  grocery-store 
out  West,  and  that  Polliver — ne  Peter — never  had  a 
grandfather  at  all,  to  speak  of  ;  still,  she  had  climbed 
successfully.  From  a  village  belle  in  an  Iowa  town 
to  a  recognized  fashionable  woman  in  New  York  was 
a  gigantic  stride,  and  yet  Mrs.  Polliver  Jones  had  com- 
passed it. 

A  philosopher,  viewing  the  result,  might  think  it 
a  totally  inadequate  return  for  the  hundred  heart- 
bruises,  slights,  and  impertinences  from  which  she 
suffered,  or  to  which  she  had  meekly  submitted,  be- 
fore that  result  had  been  attained.  Not  so  Mrs. 
Polliver  Jones.  Look  at  her  as  she  stands  in  the 
center  of  the  most  expensive  carpet  in  New  York, 
surrounded  by  Mrs.  General  Battlescar,  Mrs.  Govern- 
or Llewellen  Tilbridge,  and  old  Mrs.  Van  Skoik  Un- 
derdunk,  and  then  assert  that  the  end  has  not  jus- 
tified the  means  in  the  estimation  of  the  hostess  of 
these  blue-blooded  and  in  -  the  -  purple  -  born  dames  ! 
Now  was  the  hour  of  her  triumph  ;  the  final  test  had 
been  applied  and  her  position  defined  beyond  cavil. 
Mrs.  Van  Skoik  Underdunk  had  requested  an  invita- 
tion for  her  niece,  and,  on  some  trivial  pretext,  her 
request  had  been  politely  denied ;  still  the  temerity  had 
not  been  rebuked,  for  there  stood  Mrs.  Underdunk, 
nieceless,  yet  scintillating  in  smiles  and  the  Van  Skoik 
diamonds. 

Not  only  were  the  leaders  of  fashion  present,  but 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  7 

there  were  other  guests  quite  as  valuable  in  their  way 
as  adjuncts  in  defining  a  position.  Clever  men  and 
women  who  cared  less  for  pedigree  than  for  pleasure, 
having  inherited  the  one  but  having  to  work  for  the 
other.  All  of  these  were,  more  or  less  consciously, 
wafting  incense  to  her  who  proudly  stood  on  her  Au- 
busson  garland  of  impossible  roses. 

Of  these  was  Mrs.  Denvers.  With  white  shoulders 
and  white  teeth,  black  hair  and  black  eyes,  one  would 
expect  vivacity,  even  sprightliness ;  but  Mrs.  Denvers 
only  suggested  harmony.  The  secret  lay  in  the  per- 
fect blending.  This  blending  was  more  than  skin 
deep  ;  it  extended  to  the  phases  of  her  character,  and 
imparted  that  subtile  charm  which  exists  in  complete- 
ness. Mrs.  Denvers  was  fashionable — not  that  she 
strove  for  social  success,  but  apparently  because  she 
did  not  strive.  Such  masterly  inactivity,  however, 
requires  as  conditions  of  success  the  graces  which 
Providence,  in  its  prodigality,  had  vouchsafed  this 
symmetrical  character. 

At  midnight  the  ball  was  well  under  way.  Mrs. 
Denvers  was  not  dancing,  but  was  reposing  comforta- 
bly on  a  divan  in  the  library,  and  gazing  carelessly 
through  the  open  door  into  the  ball-room.  On  a 
chair  drawn  up  quite  near  her  sat  a  man  with  eye- 
glasses, scant  hair,  puckered  forehead,  a  wide-awake 
look,  and  a  general  suggestion  of  inquisitiveness  about 
him. 

"As  clever  as  ever  at  unearthing  characters  and 
types,  Mr.  Chatterton  ?  " 

The  man  smiled  complacently  as  he  shot  his  right 
cuff  from  under  his  coat-sleeve  by  so  sudden  a  move- 
ment as  quite  to  suggest  the  idea  that  he  was  making 


8  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

passes  at  some  imaginary  foe.  Then  recovering  his 
former  pose,  he  answered — indirectly  : 

"They  do  interest  me,  Mrs.  Denvers.  About  the 
most  exhilarant  occupation  I  can  find  in  this  world  of 
nonentities  is  to  pick  out  the  exceptions  and  study 
what  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  called  '  the  redeeming  mi- 
nority.'" 

"  And  have  you  been  successful  to-night  ?  "  She 
is  not  in  the  least  interested,  but  is  a  thorough  be- 
liever in  antiphonal  obligation  in  conversation. 

"  Conspicuously.  A  magnificent  man,  to  judge 
from  outward  indications.  Napoleonic  head  ;  square, 
resolute  chin ;  eyes  which  would  be  almost  too  blue 
for  so  uncompromising  a  face  were  it  not  for  their 
steady  glance  ;  a  well  -  poised  figure — why,  there  he 
stands  ! " 

Mrs.  Denvers  glanced  at  the  person  so  grandilo- 
quently described,  and  allowed  her  eyes  to  remain 
fixed  on  the  familiar  figure. 

"  I  am  surprised  that  you  do  not  know  him.  That 
is  Felix  Perry,  the  new  partner  of  the  firm  of  Dodruff 
and  Pringle,  Mr.  Denvers's  attorneys." 

"  Does  not  he  suggest  force  in  repose  ?  And  how 
un  self-conscious  !  Do  tell  me  he  is  not  posing  !  If  I 
should  discover  he  was,  I  should  never  again  trust  my 
perspicacity." 

"Reassure  yourself;  Mr.  Perry  is  as  innocent  of 
affectation  as  he  is  ignorant  of  your  admiration.  He 
seems  to  be  coming  this  way." 

As  the  subject  of  their  conversation  approached, 
Mr.  Ohatterton  rose  and  held  the  back  of  his  chair 
with  both  hands  as  if  about  to  deliver  an  after-dinner 
speech. 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  9 

"  Not  dancing,  Mrs.  Denvers  ?  " 

"As  you  see,  Mr.  Perry.  Mr.  Denvers  has  almost 
converted  me  to  his  indifference  to  frivolities,  and  I 
now  see  only  the  absurd  in  many  things  I  used  to 
enjoy." 

''A  passing  cynicism,  I  fancy." 

"  Possibly.  However,  it  does  not  signify — Mr. 
Chatterton,  Mr.  Perry." 

The  two  men  bowed.  Mr.  Chatterton's  bow 
reached  almost  the  proportions  of  an  obeisance.  Mrs, 
Denvers  continued  :  "  Mr.  Chatterfcon  is  an  invalua- 
ble acquaintance.  He  analyzes  the  masses  and,  dis- 
carding the  uninteresting,  hands  you  the  valuable 
residuum.  Still,  it  is  rather  alarming  to  remember 
that  he  caters  to  others  also." 

"  Sarcasm,  Mr.  Perry,  I  vow.  Pure  and  cruel  sar- 
casm." But  Mr.  Chatterton  was  pleased.  And  yet, 
as  Perry  merely  glanced  at  him  and  seemed  to  be  nei- 
ther alarmed  nor  impressed,  the  type-hunter  began  to 
think  that  a  picturesque  perspective  had  been  spoiled 
when  the  young  lawyer  had  moved  to  the  foreground. 

"  Mr.  Chatterton  is  just  now  invested  with  a  new 
interest  in  the  eyes  of  his  friends.  Fortune,  given 
to  carrying  coals  to  Newcastle,"  with  a  faint  smile, 
"  has  just  deposited  a  load  at  his  feet — only,  not  coal, 
but  gold." 

"No,  no,  Mrs.  Denvers,  not  gold.  Only  acres, 
and  Virginia  acres  at  that.  Still,  it  is  a  charming 
surprise,  I  assure  you,  as  the  acres  are  genuinely  an- 
cestral." 

Mr.  Perry  was  evidently  not  of  those  who  think  it 
necessary  to  say  something  when  they  have  nothing  to 
say,  so  he  remained  silent  in  the  chair  in  which  he 


10  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

had  comfortably  seated  himself.  He  glanced  care- 
lessly at  the  other  man  and  then  looked  at  Mrs.  Den- 
vers  with  his  large,  frank,  steady  blue  eyes  till  hers 
were  attracted  and  reciprocated  with  a  little  sympa- 
thetic smile.  Then  she  returned  to  the  consideration 
of  Fortune's  lavishness. 

"  Do  you  object  to  having  your  inheritance  men- 
tioned, Mr.  Chatterton  ?  " 

"  I  object  to  nothing  from  you,  madame,  save 
your  disapproval." 

"Know  then,  Mr.  Perry,  that  the  days  of  romance 
are  not  over,  and  that  uncles  with  acres  suddenly  re- 
member long-forgotten  nephews,  and  transfer  the 
property  to  the  prodigals  over  the  heads  of  others 
who  confidently  counted  on  coming  into  it." 

"And  Mr.  Chatterton  is  the  legatee  in  one  such 
romance  ?  "  asked  Perry. 

"  If  that  is  the  technical  term  for  the  one  who  in- 
herits," she  responded  ;  then  added  :  "  Some  of  these 
days  Mr.  Chatterton  must  tell  you  the  particulars. 
You  will  be  interested,  since  there  is  a  chance  of  a 
legal  battle.  By  the  way,  is  not  that  Captain  Petro- 
coff,  of  the  Eussian  frigate  ?  " 

With  a  hurried  excuse  for  running  away,  Mr. 
Chatterton  rushed  after  the  Tartar,  quite  uncon- 
scious, in  his  self-satisfied  placidity,  that  he  had 
been  dismissed. 

A  very  perceptible  change  came  over  Mrs.  Den- 
vers  when  she  and  Perry  were  alone.  Had  there 
been  a  single  grain  of  conceit  in  his  amalgamation, 
he  would  have  been  flattered.  But,  then,  it  is  a  fair 
inference  that  she  would  have  been  more  guarded 
had  there  been  a  chance  of  her  being  misunderstood. 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE,  H 

Women  are  surprisingly  clever  at  such  adjustment, 
and  seldom  unintentionally  go  beyond  the  danger- 
line,  notwithstanding  their  fondness  for  such  tenta- 
tive excursions.  Still,  there  was  more  than  mere  ex- 
periment here,  and  the  look  had  the  spontaneity  of 
either  admiration  or  affection — those  nearly  related 
emotions. 

"And  Fortune,  Mr.  Perry,  how  does  she  treat 
you?" 

"  She  does  not  frown." 

"  I  could  have  predicted  as  much.  Given  her  sex 
and  your  indifference  and  the  exertion  will  certainly 
all  be  hers." 

An  undefined  something  told  Perry  that  his  com- 
panion was  thinking  of  one  thing  while  talking  of 
another.  "Who  was  it  that  said  language  was  in- 
vented to  conceal  thought  ?  "  he  inquired. 

For  a  moment  she  seemed  startled,  but  recovering 
her  placidity  of  expression,  laughed  musically. 

"I  declare,  you  are  developing  into  a  close  ob- 
server. Do  not  allow  the  tendency  too  much  play. 
Yours  is  a  comprehensive  mind,  and  can  gain  nothing 
by  attempting  minutiae." 

"Still,"  he  said,  "I  am  in  the  dark.  What  was 
it  you  were  conversationally  obscuring  ?  " 

"I  was  debating  the  wisdom  of  silence  or  con- 
fession." 

"Allow  me  to  add  the  weight  of  my  persuasion 
on  the  side  of  the  latter." 

"Your  surprising  penetration  has  left  me  no 
option.  It  was  not  for  nothing  I  introduced  Mr. 
Chatterton  to  you.  He  has  been  telling  me  he  feared 
there  would  be  some  litigation  in  regard  to  his  Vir- 


12  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

* 

ginia  inheritance.  He  rather  expects  the  will  to  be 
attacked."  . 

"  How  good  you  are  P'  He  rarely  gushed,  but 
now  appreciation  was  evident  in  the  tone  of  his  voice. 
"You  wish  me  to  benefit  professionally  by  knowing 
Mr.  Ohatterton." 

"  Your  partners  would  be  pleased  if  he  were  se- 
cured as  a  client.  I  wish  you  to  have  the  credit  of 
bringing  business  to  the  firm." 

"  You  have  a  genius  for  friendship,  my  dear  Mrs. 
Denvers." 

Nothing  pleased  her  more  than  just  such  speeches, 
especially  from  him.  A  becoming  blush  swept  from 
her  face  the  almost  maternal  expression  it  had  worn 
so  long  as  she  had  considered  only  his  interests. 

"And  now  good-night,"  she  said.  "You  could 
not  improve  upon  that  compliment  if  you  tried  till 
court  time  to-morrow." 

"Are  you  going  already?"  said  the  young  man, 
as  he  rose. 

"  Yes,  I  see  that  verdict  written  in  Mr.  Denvers's 
very  pose  as  he  stands  there  talking  with  Miss  Brown, 
and  he  is  not  easily  moved  from  his  purpose.  For- 
tunately for  me,  he  is  discretion  and  consideration 
itself  in  matters  of  moment,  so  I  think  it  only  just  to 
cede  in  trifles.  You  see  I  was  right,  here  he  comes." 

Her  manner  had  completely  changed.  She  was 
again  the  composed  woman  of  the  world. 

Mr.  Denvers's  eyes  appeared  to  be  the  only  mobile 
part  of  his  face ;  they,  however,  were  not  pleasant 
eyes — they  seemed  to  discover  mental  and  moral  flaws 
all  through  one,  and  to  be  cork-screwing  them  to  the 
surface.  There  was  a  peculiar  expression  stamped  on 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  13 

/ 

his  mouth,  a  compromise  between  good-breeding  and 
a  sneer.  In  other  respects  Mrs.  Denvers's  husband 
was  a  rather  fine-looking  man. 

"With  a  courteous  bow  to  Felix,  he  turned  to  his 
wife  : 

"  If  you  are  quite  willing  to  go,  I  should  be  pleased 
to  leave  now." 

"  Certainly.     But,  is  not  it  rather  early  ?  " 

"It  is  one  o'clock.     I  should  really  prefer  to  go." 

"Then  good-night,  Mr.  Perry,"  she  said,  as  she 
rose. 

At  their  home,  half  an  hour  later,  Mr.  Denvers 
poked  the  library  fire,  while  his  wife  leaned  over  it, 
her  hand  on  the  mantle-shelf. 

"  Your  paragon  does  not  appear  to  be  overtalka- 
tive.  Still,  there  is  more  merit  in  the  passive  than  in 
the  active  form  of  saying  nothing." 

"  Do  you  dislike  him  ?  " 

"Dislike  him  ?    Oh  no.     I  dislike  no  one." 

"I  envy  you." 

He  glanced  at  his  wife  amusedly.  She  was  inca- 
pable of  a  sneer  ;  still,  the  association  of  ideas  divert- 
ed him.  He  would  not  have  minded  it  if  she  had  in- 
tended to  be  sarcastic.  With  a  low  opinion  of  woman's 
intelligence,  he  did  not  object  to  having  that  opinion 
sustained  by  an  evidence  of  weakness  on  her  part, 
especially  as  he  was  seldom  gratified  in  that  direc- 
tion. 

"  I  have  not  the  least  objection  to  your  Mr.  Perry," 
he  said,  "so  long  as  I  am  not  required  to  share  your 
admiration." 

"I  supposed  you  free  of  prejudice." 

"  And  so  I  am.   Self -protects  on  creates  just  enough 


14.  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

languid  interest  in  your  friend  for  me  to  wish  to  avoicj 
him.  He  bores  me. " 

"He  is  a  straightforward,  honorable  man" — Mrs. 
Denvers  chafed  under  his  imperturbability. 

"' Brutus  is  an  honorable  man;  so  are  they  all, 
all  honorable  men.'" 

A  little  later  in  her  room,  Mrs.  Denvers  dismissed 
her  maid  and  seated  herself  before  the  fire,  book  in 
hand  but  used  only  as  a  screen  to  protect  her  face 
from  the  flame.  This  fair  woman  was  summing  up 
her  life.  As  she  ran  over  the  columns  of  disappoint- 
ment and  happiness  she  realized  that  she  had  to  make 
a  large  deposit  of  philosophy  to  the  credit  account  to 
make  the  two  balance. 

She  had  been  married  ten  years.  Her  husband 
was  not  unkind,  he  was  simply  of  another  genus. 
That  they  got  on  at  all  together  was  rather  creditable 
to  both,  she  assured  herself. 

She  possessed  a  rare  virtue — freedom  from  cant. 
So  unhypocritical  was  she  that  if  her  musing  could 
have  been  general  property  she  would  have  been 
adjudged  lax  in  her  ideas  by  the  many  who  can  not 
dissociate  extreme  honesty  from  vagueness  of  moral 
perception.  This  perspicacity  not  only  did  not  make 
her  uncharitable  but  it  saved  her  from  that  yague 
optimism  which  passes  current  as  a  virtue  with  the 
vast  majority  of  mankind.  Her  husband  benefited 
largely,  though  unconsciously,  by  the  trait ;  for  it 
provided  her  with  vast  patience  in  that  it  saved  her 
from  ove'r-expectation  in  the  direction  of  palpable 
results. 

Mrs.  Denvers  belonged  to  the  very  few  who  rightly 
interpret  moral  obligations.  She  never  eased  herself 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  15 

of  a  duty,  but  if  it  happened  to  be  uncongenial  did 
not  try  to  persuade  herself  to  the  contrary.  Such  an 
effort  would  rather  have  conduced  to  a  lowering  of 
the  standard.  She  gave  her  husband  all  the  atten- 
tion he  demanded,  but  never  dreamed  of  quixotic 
activity  in  this  direction.  She  was  satisfied  to  stand 
in  his  estimation  as  third  in  interest  to  himself  and  to 
Wall  Street,  and  would  have  been  rather  uncomfort- 
ably affected  if,  after  the  ten  years,  the  order  had  been 
disturbed.  Her  vast  surplus  of  soul-forces  were  re- 
strained within  her  breast,  as  she  was  not  of  those  to 
whom  the  sewing-class  or  the  public  nursery,  and 
kindred  channels  for  the  escape  of  superfluous  energy, 
afford  a  sufficient  substitute  for  sentient  reservoirs. 
No,  Mrs.  Denvers  was  not  one  of  these.  Still,  her 
affections  were  prudently  left  to  slumber,  even  if  they 
did  dream.  And  there  they  lay,  all  undisturbed  in 
their  resting-place,  save  when,  now  and  then,  as  on 
the  present  occasion,  the  imagination  wafted  from 
their  drowsiness  a  gentle  sigh  toward  the  misty  realm 
of  the  ideal. 


CHAPTER   II. 

FELIX  PEERT  was  healthy  physically,  morally,  and 
mentally ;  possibly  the  last  two  were  the  effects  of 
which  the  first  was  the  cause.  Fair-minded  and  gen- 
erous, he  could  at  all  times  pity  failure ;  but  it  was 
pity  and  not  sympathy.  He  was  sorry  for  the  poor 
wretch,  who  succumbed  in  the  fight  with  opposing 
circumstances,  much  as  one  pities  moral  weakness  in 


16  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

its  more  flagrant  phases,  circumstances  being  held 
less  to  blame  than  character.  Convinced  that  we 
make  our  own  world,  he  never  unloaded  disappoint- 
ment on  to  Fate,  but  let  it  nerve  him  to  further  effort. 
He  was  obstinately  perseverant  till  he  overcame  an 
obstacle,  then  he  was  satisfied  ;  his  ambition  not  carry- 
ing him  further. 

His  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Denvers  was  of  long 
standing,  and  had  gradually  ripened  into  close  friend- 
ship. He  added  color  and  tone  to  her  life,  while  she 
had  become  invaluable  to  him  as  a  mentor ;  keeping 
him  gentle  and  sympathetic  by  very  contact  with  the 
gentleness  and  sympathy  in  herself.  There  was  a 
certain  quaint  atmosphere  of  romance  about  their 
friendship,  although  it  was  most  healthfully  free  of 
covert  sentimentality.  He  was  far  too  sincere  for  any 
make-believe  sentiment,  and  she,  too  honest. 

A  few  days  after  the  ball  he  called  on  Mrs.  Den- 
vers. 

"A  gloomy  morning,  Mr.  Perry." 

"Not  in  here,"  looking  about  him  approvingly. 

"No  ?    Well,  so  much  the  better." 

He  had  called  with  a  specific  purpose,  and,  charac- 
teristically, spoke  of  it  as  soon  as  he  was  seated. 

"  Are  you  willing  to  do  a  purely  disinterested  thing, 
even  if  it  jars  on  your  sense  of  fitness  ?  " 

"  That  must  depend  upon  my  appreciation  of  the 
merit  of  the  disinterestedness,  and  perhaps  somewhat 
on  the  force  of  the  jar." 

He  was  looking  at  her  rather  earnestly ;  "  I  have 
come  to  ask  you  to  call  on  a  friend  of  mine,  Mrs.  San- 
ders Dare.  Unfortunately,  neither  by  birth  nor  by  op- 
portunity has  she  had  a  fair  chance  to  shine  in  the 


t 
A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  17 

higher  social  sphere,  and  yet  she  is  satisfied  with  noth- 
ing less  exalted." 

There  was  a  moment's  pause  ;  then  she  asked, 
"  Why  ?"  referring  to  his  request. 

"  That  it  may  help  her  to  secure  a  foot-hold  in  so- 
ciety." 

"Do  you  think  I  would  be  justified  in  doing 
this  ?  If  she  is  worthy  of  recognition  she  will 
achieve  it  unaided ;  if  not,  why  should  I  try  to  ad- 
vance her  ?  " 

"  Oh,  you  know,  she  could  never  do  it  without  as- 
sistance. No  one  can.  Her  passport  must  be  vise 
or  she  will  be  stopped  at  the  frontier." 

His  companion  gave  a  little  smile  of  dissent,  but 
made  no  reply. 

"  You  do  not  ask  me,"  he  resumed,  "  why  I  am 
interested  in  her  social  advancement." 

"I  am  quite  sure  you  will  tell  me  if  I  am  to 
know." 

"Of  course  you  are  to  know."  He  stopped  ab- 
ruptly, however,  becoming  suddenly  conscious  that  the 
reason  would  appear  extremely  inadequate  when  put 
into  such  words  as  his  chivalry  would  allow  him  to 
employ.  But  he  had  to  proceed  : 

"  Mrs.  Dare  is  the  widow  of  a  college-mate  of  mine. 
He  was  a  wild,  dashing,  rather  fast  man.  The  woman 
he  married  is  not  exactly  intellectual ;  indeed,  one 
could  wish  for  more  evidences  of  a  careful  education. 
However,  she  is  bright  and  attractive.  I  really  know 
her  but  slightly,  but  she  has  apparently  selected  me 
to  be  her  knight,  and  I  must  serve  her  gallantly." 

"  And  so  you  do  not  know  her  well  ?  " 

"  Hardly  at  all.  In  fact,  I  did  not  remember  that 
2 


18  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

Dare  and  I  had  ever  been  intimate ;  but  she  appears 
to  think  so." 

"  Is  it  not  rather  quixotic  to  foster  this  woman  on 
society  just  because  you  and  her  husband  were  at  col- 
lege together  ?  " 

"It  is  not  for  that." 

"  For  what,  then  ?  Kemember,  you  have  given 
me  no  other  reason." 

"  I  hardly  know  if  I  have  any  other,"  he  added, 
laughing  rather  nervously,  "  except  that  she  seems 
lonely  and  has  evident  reliance  upon  my  open  sesame 
influence.  In  her  presence  the  thing  appeared  natural 
enough."  He  paused  a  moment,  and  then  seemed  to 
realize  that  he  was  sacrificing  an  old  friend  to  oblige 
a  new  one,  for  he  added  :  "  Of  course,  I  shall  not  be 
in  the  least  hurt  if  you  refuse.  No  doubt,  if  you  think 
so,  it  would  be  the  wisest  thing  to  do.  Pray  do  not 
think  me  lacking  in  consideration  of  your  feelings  in 
the  matter.  I  only  intended  to  ask  you  to  see  Mrs. 
Dare  and  judge  of  her  chances  ;  and  do  afterward  as 
you  thought  best." 

"I  have  seen  her." 

"  Indeed — where  ?  " 

"At  several  places.  For  instance,  she  rather 
haunts  the  opera.  Mr.  Denvers  pointed  her  out  to 
me.  He  met  her  and  her  husband  in  Paris." 

"  Strange  that  she  did  not  tell  me  she  knew  him," 
he  replied,  oblivious  that  he  was  revealing  Mrs.  Dare's 
complicity  in  the  plan  of  securing  Mrs.  Denvers's  as- 
sistance. 

His  companion  smiled  indulgently  at  this  guile- 
lessness,  as  she  answered  :  "  Women  who  are  socially 
ambitious  have  the  cleverness  not  to  know  the  hus- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  19 

bands  of  the  women  of  whom  they  wish  to  make  use. 
Your  Mrs.  Dare  has  chosen  to  forget  my  Mr.  Den- 
vers." 

"Not  in  an  offensive  way,  I  am  sure." 

"  On  the  contrary,  in  a  very  judicious  and  clever 
way." 

"  You  women  are  rather  hard  upon  one  another," 
he  said,  answering  her  tone  rather  than  her  words. 

She  blushed  slightly,  as  she  said,  "  You  are  not 
often  so  unjust." 

"Forgive  me,  I  did  not  mean  to  offend.  To  a 
man  it  seems  strange  that  your  sex  invariably  band 
together  to  keep  out  a  social  aspirant.  It  does  not 
seem  to  make  the  least  difference  whether  she  is  per- 
sonally worthy  of  advancement  or  not" — of  course 
this  was  said  with  perfect  good-nature. 

"As  you  are  well  aware,  the  question  of  eligibility 
is  not,  as  it  should  no  doubt  be,  the  only  one.  So- 
ciety is  its  own  exegesis,  and  the  explanation  is  satis- 
factory to  its  members,"  she  answered,  quietly. 

"No  doubt  it  is,  when  once  one  is  inside.  Mrs. 
Polliver  Jones,  for  instance,  is  a  desperate  conserva- 
tive now,  whatever  she  may  have  been  a  few  years 
back." 

Mrs.  Denvers  did  not  quite  relish  this.  Not  that 
she  minded  the  sarcasm,  but  she  disliked  it  when  ap- 
plied to  one  of  whose  hospitality  they  had  partaken. 
It  is  to  be  conjectured  that  he  rightly  interpreted 
a  certain  shade  of  disappointment  which  crept  over 
her  face,  for  he  resumed,  hurriedly,  "  If  you  would 
only  take  her  in  hand  I  am  sure  she  would  be  very 
grateful.  You  have  so  much  tact,  you  could  in- 
struct her  without  seeming  to  be  doing  it." 


20  -A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

She  shook  her  head :  "It  would  never  do,"  she 
said.  "  She  would  detect  the  intention  in  a  moment, 
and  would  resent  it.  Women  are  very  clear-sighted 
when  they  deal  with  women." 

He  took  a  moment  to  consider  this.  Then  he 
arose,  saying  :  "After  all,  it  was  too  much  to  expect. 
Kemember,  however,  that  I  only  intended  asking  you 
to  see  her  and  pass  upon  her  merits." 

Two  hours  after  the  foregoing  scene  a  carriage  was 
driven  up  to  the  door  of  an  apartment  house  on 
Broadway,  and  out  of  it  stepped  Mrs.  Denvers. 

She  was  calling  on  Mrs.  Dare. 

Mrs.  Dare's  first  impression  on  facing  her  visitor 
is  worth  recording.  She  said  to  herself:  "He  has 
more  influence  over  her  than  I  supposed.  I  wonder 
if  she  is  in  love  with  him  ?  She  is  not  at  all  the 
woman  to  do  this  sort  of  thing  from  an  ordinary  mo- 
tive." 

And  the  other  thought:  "A  superb  woman,  but 
theatrical.  She  will  never  succeed  except  with  the 
men.  Still,  it  shall  not  be  my  fault :  she  shall  have 
her  opportunity." 

As  she  sat  listening  to  the  widow's  fluent  talk  her 
first  impression  was  strengthened ;  she  became  more 
and  more  persuaded  that  the  woman  before  her  would 
be  a  social  failure. 

The  call  lasted  but  a  few  moments.  Mrs.  Den- 
vers dexterously  framed  a  motive  for  having  made  it, 
cleverly  touching  upon  her  husband's  former  acquaint- 
ance with  Mrs.  Dare.  Even  while  giving  this  expla- 
nation in  her  inner  conscience  she  called  it  hypocrisy, 
"for,"  she  told  herself,  "of  course  she  knows  what 
brought  me  here,  and  of  course  she  knows  I  know  she 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  21 

knows,"  smiling  to  herself  at  the  complicated  con- 
struction. The  card  which  Mrs.  Dare  held  in  her 
hand  while  talking  with  her  visitor,  bore,  besides  the 
name  and  address,  the  words,  "Thursdays  in  Febru- 
ary, from  4  to  7." 

Mrs.  Denvers  was  a  little  depressed  in  spirits  upon 
reaching  home.  It  seemed  to  her  a  bad  thing  that  so 
true,  so  honest  a  man  as  Perry  should  fall  into  the 
hands  of  an  adventuress.  For  Felix  this  good  friend 
had  a  motherly  anxiety,  and  now  that  the  duckling 
she  had  so  carefully  tended  showed  signs  of  paddling 
off  into  unknown  depths,  she  fluttered  on  the  brink 
in  genuine  trepidation.  "  She  is  so  dangerously  hand- 
some, and,  I  fear,  so  little  restrained  by  the  con- 
ventional," she  murmured  to  herself.  Women  do  not 
always  read  men  as  correctly  as  they  think.  Mrs.  Den- 
vers knew  Perry  very  well,  but  she  did  not  know  him 
thoroughly. 

Of  course  Mrs.  Dare  appeared  at  Mrs.  Denvers  on 
the  following  Thursday.  Her  hostess  met  her  with 
the  same  empressement  with  which  she  greeted  her 
other  guests.  Introducing  her  to  Mrs.  TJnder- 
dunk  and  Mrs.  Battlescar,  she  felt  that  she  had 
done  more,  even,  than  "  the  whole  duty  of  man " 
demanded,  and  turned  to  more  congenial  occupa- 
tion. 

Perry  was  there.  He  had  not  heard  of  the  visit, 
and  now  flushed  with  pleasure  as  he  whispered  to  his 
hostess  :  "  You  are  certainly  the  kindest  friend  in  the 
world." 

A  few  moments  later  he  was  with  Mrs.  Dare.  She 
greeted  him  with  :  "You  have  succeeded  beyond  my 
fondest  expectation." 


22  -4    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

He  disliked  excessively  the  allusion.  She  should 
have  ignored  his  implication. 

"You  are  very,  very  good  to  me,"  she  continued, 
realizing  her  mistake,  and  turning  on  him  her  large, 
tear-dimmed  Irish-blue  eyes,  and  assuming  that  pose 
and  tone  of  utter  prostration  which  go  so  far  with 
most  men.  "Since  poor  Sanders's  death  I  have  been 
so  lonely  !"  (He  had  neglected  her  shamefully  and 
had  died  of  delirium  tremens.) 

"By  Jove,  Denvers,  what  a  magnificent  woman! 
Who  on  earth  is  she  ?  " 

For  a  wonder  Mr.  Denvers  was  not  in  Wall  Street. 
His  wife's  receptions  usually  found  him  very  partic- 
ularly engaged  elsewhere.  The  person  who  had  just 
addressed  him  was  a  large,  jovial,  fine-looking  man 
of  about  fifty,  with  a  double  chin  and  a  stereotyped 
smile. 

"Her  name  is  Mrs.  '  Chose,'  Clyde." 

Mr.  Clyde  looked  up  quickly,  then  laughed  good- 
naturedly.  He  had  a  habit,  or  an  affectation,  of  for- 
getting people's  names,  and  rather  than  suffer  a  dis- 
agreeable break  in  the  otherwise  unruffled  flow  of  his 
oily  and  fluent  conversation,  used  indiscriminately  the 
sobriquet  "  Chose." 

"Gad,"  he  said,  "not  bad  !  I  will  tell  that  on 
myself.  I  am  rather  fond  of  discounting  anecdotes 
at  my  expense,  and  this  one  would  be  sure  to  sur- 
vive. You  are  clever  at  that  sort  of  thing,  do 
you  know  ? — though  you  do  not  look  it.  But  come, 
do  tell  me  the  name  and  pedigree  of  that  clean-cut 
filly." 

"Name,  Dare;  sire,  unknown;  age,  uncertain — 
somewhere  in  the  thirties." 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  23 

Later,  Perry  secured  Mrs.  Denvers  to  himself  for 
a  few  moments. 

"  You  are  too  good  to  me,"  he  said. 

"  Quite  likely,"  she  answered,  soberly.  "  Do  not 
expect  too  much.  She  will  fail ;  but,  after  all,  you 
will  not  know  it." 

"  You  evidently  do  not  rate  my  perspicacity  very 
high." 

"  I  should  have  been  less  personal.  I  meant  that 
none  of  your  sex — unless  it  be  Mr.  Denvers — will 
know  of  the  failure." 

"Mr.  Denvers  must  be  peculiarly  sagacious." 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  absent-mindedly. 

"  And  so  you  think  she  will  fail  with  the  women  ? 
Why  " — as  though  the  thought  had  just  come  to  him, 
as  no  doubt  it  had — "  she  will  care  for  no  other  suc- 
cess. She  has  always  had  as  many  men  about  her  as 
she  wished."  He  certainly  was  at  times  strangely 
unsophisticated. 

His  companion  looked  at  him,  smilingly,  almost 
tenderly.  These  little  outcroppings  of  artlessness  on 
his  part — and  they  were  not  infrequent — invariably 
affected  her.  The  smile  soon  died,  however,  as  she 
thought  how  unfit  he  was  to  cope  with  the  siren's 
arts.  In  this  mood  she  said  :  "  Do  not  set  your  heart 
on  her  succeeding." 

"My  heart  is  not  in  the  least  involved,"  he  an- 
swered, carelessly. 

"  Maybe  you  are  mistaken,"  she  said.  "  It  rather 
looks  like  it."  He  looked  at  her,  thinking  she  must 
be  jesting.  But  there  was  no  sign  of  a  smile,  and  he 
let  the  matter  drop,  wondering,  however,  that  she 
should  think  it  necessary  to  warn  him. 


24:  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

That  night  at  his  club,  Mr.  Clyde  described  Mrs. 
Dare  to  a  boon  companion  :  "As  well  pointed  as  Ve- 
nus, my  child,  and  as  ripe  as  a  peach.  Large,  blue 
eyes,  with  a  do-protect-me  look  in  them.  Eusset  hair, 
which  will  come  out  of  place,  you  know  !  A  low 
voice  ;  so  low,  indeed,  that  to  hear  her  at  all  you  have 
to  enter  the  subtile  and  intoxicating  atmosphere  of  her 
immediate  presence.  But  there  is  one  thing  that  puz- 
zles me — why  does  Madame  Chose  have  her  ?  There 
must  be  some  unevident  motive.  She  will  antago- 
nize all  the  women,  and  will  give  them  ample  chances 
to  wound  her,  for — whisper  it  not  in  Gath — she  now 
and  then  lapses  from  grammatical  virtue.  No,  poor 
thing,  she  is  fated  to  fail  in  her  social  scheme  ;  she  is 
too  rakish  to  succeed.  But  mark  my  words,  some 
fellow  will  suffer  for  it.  And  when  she  falls — '  from 
early  morn  to  dewy  eve ' — she  will  not  be  alone  ! " 
Mrs.  Denvers  was  mistaken.  Her  husband  was  not 
the  only  man  who  gauged  "  the  siren  "  correctly.  But, 
then,  Clyde  was  exceptionally  situated.  Thirty  years 
of  social  advantages  will  teach  even  a  man  something. 

For  the  following  three  or  four  months  Perry  saw 
but  little  of  Mrs.  Dare.  He  was  working  hard,  and 
kept  aloof  from  the  gay  world.  To  be  sure,  once  or 
twice  he  dined  at  her  apartment.  Upon  one  such  oc- 
casion he  found  himself  her  only  guest,  and  after  a 
dinner  memorable  for  its  good  things  and  for  its  tinge 
and  atmosphere  of  Bohemia,  they  went  to  a  little, 
rather  obscure  theatre,  for  which  she  had  secured 
seats.  Independent  as  he  was  of  public  opinion,  this 
little  incident  jarred  upon  him.  It  had  been  well 
enough  till,  in  the  middle  of  a  rather  questionable 
play,  the  mental  query  came  to  him,  how  would  Mrs. 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  25 

Denvers  like  it,  if  she  knew  ?  "Was  this  a  fair  return 
to  make  for  her  kindness  to  him  in  going  out  of  her 
way  to  assist  the  woman  by  his  side  ? 

After  this  it  rather  pleased  him  to  work  the  hard- 
er. It  seemed  to  atone,  in  some  mysterious  way,  for 
his  forgetfulness  of  what,  he  told  himself,  was  due  to 
Mrs.  Denvers. 

Mrs.  Dare  continued  to  strive  for  social  recognition. 
If  her  inner  consciousness  echoed  the  predictions  of 
failure  which  were  continually  being  made  about  her, 
at  least  she  made  no  sign.  But  her  progress  was 
painfully  slow.  Now  and  then  she  was  asked  to  some 
big  affair,  to  be  sure,  but  in  each  case  she  was  con- 
vinced it  was  to  please  some  dashing  son,  or  to  pacify 
some  too  persistent  husband,  or,  at  best,  "  because 
Mrs.  Denvers  had  her. "  It  was  heart-breaking  work, 
still  she  persevered.  Mrs.  Polliver  Jones  was  espe- 
cially obdurate  ;  she  would  not  even  hear  of  having 
Mrs.  Dare  presented  to  her.  "  Society,  my  dear  Mrs. 
Underdunk,  is  getting  dreadfully  mixed.  "VTe  can 
not  be  too  careful ;  such  a  lot  of  pushing  nobodies  are 
being  admitted  !  In  our  day  it  would  seem  that  all 
barriers  are  being  broken  down.  I  really  feel  as  if 
I  owe  it  to  our  set  to  discountenance  this  dreadful 
woman." 

But  Mrs.  Underdunk  sniffed  the  air  savagely. 
Not  too  savagely,  be  it  understood,  for  had  not  the 
Polliver  Joneses  the  best  box  at  the  Metropolitan,  and 
the  best  chef  in  New  York  ! 


26  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 


CHAPTER  III. 

A  GLOKIOUS  day  in  June  found  the  junior  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Dodruff,  Pringle  &  Perry  seated  in 
his  revolving  chair  at  his  desk,  when  a  card  was  handed 
him  by  the  office  boy.  It  bore  the  legend  "  Mr.  "Will- 
iam Chatterton.  The  Lethe  Club."  Bidding  the 
attendant  ask  Mr.  Chatterton  to  walk  in,  Felix  care- 
fully addressed  a  letter  he  had  been  writing,  and 
turned  just  in  time  to  greet  his  visitor. 

"  Business,  Mr.  Perry,  I  assure  you.  I  am  far 
too  discreet  to  intrude  on  a  busy  man  with  uncanoni- 
cal  affairs." 

"I  am  at  your  service  in  any  capacity." 

"  Thanks.  But  I  will  at  once  come  to  the  point " 
— with  affectation  of  extreme  haste — "I  need  legal 
advice  and  legal  assistance,  and  have  come  to  you  for 
both." 

Perry  smiled  to  himself,  as  he  thought  how  a 
frank,  honest  face  and  earnest  eyes  would  sparkle  at 
this. 

"  We  shall  be  pleased  to  do  our  best  for  you." 

Acknowledging  this  with  an  elaborate  bow,  the 
new  client  resumed  :  "  I  believe  you  have  heard  that 
I  lately  inherited  a  Virginia  estate  ?" 

"  Yes,  Mrs.  Denvers  told  me ;  it  was  on  the  oc- 
casion of  our  first  meeting." 

"  You  have  an  excellent  memory,  Mr.  Perry.  Yes, 
a  large  plantation  in  Braddox  County,  Virginia,  and 
some  business  property  in  Richmond.  The  plantation 
is  called  Chatterton,  and  has  been  in  our  family  quite 
too  hundred  years,''*  pompously. 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  £7 

Felix  said,  "Yes?"  rather  perfunctorily,  then 
waited  for  his  companion  to  proceed. 

"And  I  have  come  to  you,"  resumed  Mr.  Chatter- 
ton,  "for  your  assistance  in  placing  me  in  possession 
of  the  estate." 

"Are  your  rights  contested  ?" 

"  Not  in.  the  courts  ;  although  I  believe  even  that 
was  at  one  time  contemplated.  But  an  appeal  has 
been  made  to  me.  I  am  coolly  asked  to  surrender 
my  heritage,  and  they  seek  to  justify  the  demand  by 
an  appeal  to  sentiment,  although,  for  the  life  of  me, 
I  can  find  it  based,  when  divested  of  tinsel,  on  noth- 
ing more  sentimental  than  a  desire  to  have  another's 
property  ;  a  not  uncommon  form  of  emotion  !  Pray 
read  this  letter  ;  it  will  show  you  the  absurd  dilemma 
I  am  in,  and  also  what  impracticable  ideas  still  obtain 
in  my  native  State. " 

Felix  silently  took  the  letter.  It  was  headed 
"  Sunnycrest,"  but  there  was  no  date.  It  ran  as 
follows : 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  CHATTERTON  :  You  will,  no  doubt, 
be  surprised  to  receive  a  letter  from  a  total  stranger, 
and  possibly  still  more  surprised  at  its  purport.  Al- 
low me  to  preface  what  I  have  to  say  with  the  assur- 
ance that  no  other  person  knows  I  am  writing  to  you. 
This  explanation  is  due,  lest  you  might  do  your  cous- 
in, Mrs.  Chester,  the  injustice  to  think  she  would  con- 
descend to  appeal  to  you  in  her  own  behalf.  I  am 
fully  conscious  that  she  would  bitterly  resent  what 
she  might  consider  my  unwarrantable  interference, 
did  she  know  of  this  letter.  I  am  a  neighbor  of  Mrs. 
Chester,  and  am  received  at  Chatterton  as  one  of  the 


28  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

family.  Indeed,  I  feel  as  though  Mrs.  and  Miss  Ches- 
ter were  related  to  me.  This  last  explanation  I  con- 
sider  due  to  myself,  it  is  my  justification. 

"  Up  to  the  reading  of  your  uncle's  will,  Mrs.  Ches- 
ter had  every  reason  to  suppose  she  was  his  sole  heir. 
That  the  old  place  would  ever  go  to  another  had  nev- 
er for  a  moment  entered  her  mind.  Even  as  matters 
now  stand  we  think  she  has  a  claim  to  the  estate. 
Down  here  we  get  attached  to  the  acres  which  from 
our  earliest  childhood  have  yielded  us  their  increase, 
and  the  right  of  eminent  domain  founded  on  associa- 
tions is  held  to  be  at  least  equal  to  an  hereditary 
title.  Thus,  while  the  claim  to  Chatterton  by  its 
legal  owner  may  be  paramount  in  the  cold  eyes  of 
the  law,  it  is  contested  here  in  the  court  of  public 
opinion  ;  that  court  where  such  reasonable  expecta- 
tion is  recognized  as  constituting  at  least  a  cause  for 
action. 

"But your  claim  stands  in  the  way  of  your  cous- 
in's peaceable  possession,  and  till  that  claim  is  re- 
moved or  withdrawn  such  peaceable  possession  is  im- 
possible. Mrs.  Chester  has  no  money  to  offer  for  a 
relinquishment  of  your  demands ;  the  little  her  hard- 
hearted uncle  left  her  being,  unfortunately,  in  the 
hands  of  trustees,  and  they  refuse  to  sanction  the  pur- 
chase. Has  not  this  relative  of  yours  a  claim  on  your 
generosity,  although  she  would  rather  die  than  appeal 
to  it  ?  Are  you  willing  to  occupy  in  her  eyes  the  po- 
sition of  an  interloper  ;  a  heartless,  unnatural  Shy- 
lock  ?  No,  I  am  sure  not.  Prove  that  Southern 
blood  runs  in  your  veins,  by  a  grand,  a  chivalrous  act ; 
relinquish  Chatterton  to  Mrs.  Chester  and  accept  as 
equivalents  the  knowledge  of  our  undying  admira- 


r 
A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  29 

tion  and  the  personal  satisfaction  which  conies  from  a 
good  deed  well  done. 

"Very  respectfully  your  servant, 

LEIGH." 


Mr.  Chatterton  tilted  back  his  chair,  as  he  replaced 
the  letter  in  his  pocket.  "It  seems,"  he  said,  "that 
my  claim  is  admitted  to  be  '  paramount  in  the  cold 
eyes  of  the  law,'  Mr.  Perry,  and  as  you  represent  the 
frigid  optics,  I  place  the  matter  in  your  hands."  And 
he  smiled  contentedly  at  what  he  considered  a  neat 
turn  of  phrase. 

"A  local  attorney  could  manage  the  affair  for 
you.  The  courts  would  soon  dispossess  Mrs.  Ches- 
ter." 

"  No  doubt,  no  doubt.  But  the  cursed  thing  has 
a  sentimental  side,  the  side  Mr.  Atherton  Leigh  cham- 
pions. Down  there,  as  he  laconically  puts  it,  they 
would  be  sure  to  pose  as  martyrs,  and  represent  me  as 
the  Shylock  he  hints  at.  As  I  am  to  be  Chatterton 
of  Chatterton  I  must  not,  you  know,  antagonize  local 
opinion.  Come,  do  help  me  to  some  amicable  adjust- 
ment," 

"I  fear  that  is  outside  our  province." 

"  Maybe  ;  still,  a  disinterested  agent  is  needed. 
Will  you  be  the  agent?" 

"  What  would  I  have  to  do  ?  " 

"Go  to  Virginia  for  a  few  weeks  ;  allay  the  mor- 
bid disappointment  of  my  misguided  opponents  ;  in- 
stall me  vicariously  in  Chatterton  ;  earn  my  undying 
admiration  and  enjoy  'the  personal  satisfaction  which 
comes  from  a  good  deed  well  done  !  '  " 

"  I  am  the  very  last  person  to  be  selected  for  such 


30  -^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

a  mission.  The  situation  calls  for  a  diplomat,  not  a 
lawyer." 

"  There  I  disagree  with  you.  There  are  crystal- 
lized absurdities  which  can  only  be  shivered  by  the 
sledge-hammer  of  common  sense." 

"  To  shiver  them  is  not  to  liquefy  them  back  to 
current  conditions." 

"You  can  not  persuade  me  you  are  not  just  the 
man  I  need." 

"Would  the  mission,  if  unsuccessful,  justify  a 
necessarily  heavy  expense  ?  "  asked  Perry. 

"The  mere  money  value  of  the  plantation  is  to 
me  its  least  attraction.  I  am  determined  to  take 
possession  of  Chatterton,  the  home  of  my  ancestors. 
To  have  inherited  the  family  homestead,  and  then  for 
a  lot  of  fanatics  to  contest  with  me  its  possession,  is 
extremely  irritating.  The  pacific  mission  on  which  I 
wish  to  send  you  is  merely  my  first  move,  if  it  is  un- 
successful. Therefore,  as  you  will  understand,  ex- 
pense is  a  minor  consideration." 

"  What  am  I  to  do  ;  where  and  how  begin  ?  " 

"Go  at  once  to  Braddox ;  see  Leigh  and  Mrs. 
Chester,  appease  the  one,  reconcile  the  other,  and  in 
fact,  smooth  things  over." 

"I  shall  return  to  you  empty-handed.  I  have 
little  tact,  except,  perhaps,  professional." 

"I  am  willing  to  take  the  chances,"  said  Mr. 
Chatterton. 

"  Well,  I  will  consult  my  partners  and  give  you 
my  answer  to-morrow." 

"  I  shall  call  again  at  the  same  hour.  Oblige  me, 
Mr.  Perry,  by  arranging  to  go." 

"You  will  be  more  fortunate  if  I  do  not." 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  31 

"No,  I  am  quite  sure  yon  are  wrong  there.  Allow 
me  to  be  enthusiastic  over  my  own  penetration.  I  am 
vastly  tickled  with  my  sagacity  in  accrediting  a  prac- 
tical plenipotentiary  to  a  sentimental  court.  I  am 
thoroughly  persuaded  that  the  possession  of  nerves 
and  not  of  nervousness  is  the  requisite  characteristic 
of  such  an  ambassador." 

"I  must  adhere  to  the  belief  that  you  are  employ- 
ing an  unnecessary  agent.  My  tact  will  most  likely 
consist  in  bluntly  telling  them  of  your  irrevocable  in- 
tention to  eventually  take  possession  of  Chatterton." 

"Well,  and  if  you  are  proved  to  have  been  in  the 
right  I  shall  at  least  have  the  consolation  of  knowing 
that  I  used  every  possible  means  to  reach  an  amicable 
understanding  with  my  cousin.  You  can  not  dampen 
my  ardor ;  I  know  I  am  right ;  and,  besides,  your 
mission  will  at  all  events  clear  the  way  for  the  '  cold 
eyes  of  the  law."3 

"  Your  correspondent  is  certainly  most  unreason- 
able." 

"  People  are  apt  to  be  obtuse  to  their  personal  un- 
reasonableness when  there  is  something  to  gain  by  it. 
Moral  insight  is  very  keen  when  profit  and  a  high 
standard  run  parallel." 

Then  Mr.  Chatterton  retired,  well  pleased  with 
himself.  He  made  it  a  point  not  to  leave  any  pres- 
ence without  a  parting  aphorism  (much  as  Shake- 
speare ended  his  scenes  with  a  couplet),  and  in  the 
present  instance  it  tickled  his  vanity  to  have  perpe- 
trated two  out  of  the  prodigality  of  his  genius. 


32  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

NEVER  started  a  practical  agent  on  a  more  visionary 
mission  than  Perry  on  his  trip  to  Virginia.  To  his 
astonishment,  his  partners  had  strongly  advised  his 
going.  He  was  rather  disgusted  at  their  eagerness  to 
secure  a  client :  with  the  sordid  part  of  his  profession 
he  had  little  sympathy. 

He  had  never  been  as  far  south  as  Washington 
even,  and  the  glimpse  he  had  of  the  lazy,  meandering 
crowd  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue  was  his  first  experi- 
ence of  Southern  life.  He  had  an  hour  to  lose  in 
the  city  of  magnificent  distances,  and  passed  it  in  a 
hansom,  viewing  the  public  buildings.  They  affected 
him  only  as  he  approved  of  their  architectural  merit : 
he  had  no  bump  of  associative  reverence. 

As  soon  as  he  was  seated  in  the  south-bound  ex- 
press, Perry  became  aware  of  a  disagreeable  change 
from  the  luxury  of  the  "Limited."  The  car  was 
dingy,  close,  and  crowded  ;  negroes  predominating. 
His  first  impression  was  that  the  people  in  the  car 
knew  one  another  more  or  less.  They  were  extremely 
sociable,  and  exchanged  newspapers  and  opinions 
freely.  When  the  conductor  went  through  the  car  on 
his  rounds,  Felix  was  surprised  to  find  that  he,  too, 
seemed  to  know  every  one,  for  he  touched  his  cap  to 
most  of  the  female  passengers,  and  "Coloneled"  and 
"  Generaled  "  most  of  the  men. 

The  train  stopped  at  numerous  "  stations."  These 
usually  consisted  of  mere  sheds  in  various  stages  of 
dilapidation.  At  each  stoppage  there  was  quite  a 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  33 

commotion  among  the  passengers.  There  were  leave- 
takings,  messages  to  be  carried  on  to  other  stations,  and 
messages  to  be  left  at  this,  for  the  "folks."  How- 
ever, no  one  seemed  to  object  to  the  consequent  delay, 
and  even  the  conductor  and  brakesman  most  oblig- 
ingly assisted  the  ladies  and  "  colonels"  to  alight,  and 
helped  them  with  their  parcels,  of  which  there  was  a 
surprising  number,  and  all  was  good-nature  and  de- 
liberate serenity. 

While  gazing  rather  unspeculatively  out  at  the 
monotonous  scenery,  Perry  was  startled  to  hear  the 
brakesman  shout  out: 

"Braddox  Station!" 

Seizing  his  hand-bag  and  umbrella,  Felix  hurried 
to  the  door  of  the  car. 

"Is  this  Braddox?" 

"  Braddox  Station." 

After  all  there  was  no  mistake.  Still,  Felix  looked 
about  him  wonderingly. 

"But  where  is  the  station?" 

"  There,"  answered  the  brakesman,  with  an  Amer- 
ican's love  of  brevity,  as  he  pointed  to  a  shanty  in  a 
more  advanced  stage  of  ruin  than  any  Perry  had  yet 
seen. 

A  moment  more  and  he  was  standing  on  a  shaky 
platform  and  gazing  after  the  rapidly  disappearing 
train.  Then  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  "  station." 

At  first  he  thought  there  was  no  one  there,  but  a 
second  glance  revealed  a  cadaverous,  butternut-clad, 
being,  stretched  at  full  length  on  a  bench.  Him 
Felix  accosted. 

"Is  this  Braddox?" 

"Braddox  Station." 
3 


34:  -4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

"  That's  what  I  mean — where's  the  town?  " 

"  Do  yer  mean  Braddox  Court-House?  "    (He  pro- 
nounced it  "Cote-House.") 

"I  suppose  I  do ;   is  there  any  other  town  of 
Braddox?" 

"No." 

"Then  how  far  is  the  court-house  from  here?" 

"Reckon  'bout  five  miles." 

The  man  had  only  moved  his  eyes;  not  a  muscle 
had  stirred. 

"Five  miles!    How  can  I  get  there?" 

"Walk.     There's  no  train  befo'  to-morrow." 

"  Train!     How  could  I  get  there  by  train? " 

"  Down  that  yer  track,"  jerking  his  head  in  the 
direction  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

"Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  I  would  have  reached 
Braddox  by  that  train  if  I  had  remained  on  it?" 

The  native  nodded  an  affirmative,  as  he  murmured 
"  cote-house  "  by  way  of  correction. 

"Why  did  not  the  brakesman  tell  me?" 

"Dunno." 

"He  said  this  was  Braddox  Station." 

"So 'tis." 

"  Do  they  have  a  Braddox  Station,  and  another 
station  at  Braddox  Court-House  ?  " 

Another  affirmative  nod. 

"That's  absurd!" 

"  Look  'e  here,  did  yer  come  down  to  tell  us  how 
to  name  our  depots  ?  " 

Felix  saw  the  folly  of  arguing  the  question,  and 
turned  the  subject. 

"  How  can  I  get  a  conveyance  to  carry  me  to  the 
court-house  ?  " 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  35 

"Dunno." 

"  Have  you  a  wagon  ?  " 

"No." 

"  Do  you  know  of  anybody  who  has  ?  " 

"  Only  Sutherland's,  and  his'ns  gone  to  Alexan- 
dry." 

"  Which  is  the  road  ?  " 

"Overtha'." 

"  I  don't  see  my  trunk.  Do  you  suppose  it  has 
gone  on  to  the  real  Braddox  ?" 

"  I  reckon ;  "  and  the  butternut  native  rolled 
over  on  his  side  with  his  face  toward  the  boards  of  the 
"  station,"  thereby  intimating  that  the  audience  was 
at  an  end. 

Felix  had  entirely  recovered  his  equanimity,  and 
as  he  walked  along  the  road  toward  the  court-house, 
looked  about  him  with  a  sense  of  enjoyment.  The 
month  was  June,  and  the  man  was  young  and  strong 
— a  more  favorable  combination  to  insure  enjoyment 
can  not  well  be  imagined.  The  surprises  of  spring 
had  not  yet  merged  into  the  repose  of  summer,  and 
Nature  was  still  in  a  ripple  of  smiles  at  its  own 
joke. 

Perry  did  not  have  the  poetic  taste  in  that  exalted 
degree  which  lends  an  almost  painful  pleasure  to  com- 
munion with  Nature.  Still,  there  was  a  certain  ro- 
mantic vein  in  his  disposition,  and  he  responded  cheer- 
ily to  her  blandishments. 

While  passing  over  hills  and  through  dales,  Felix 
gaily  whistled  the  tenor  solo  from  "  Mignon,"  thinking 
the  while  that  he  was  rendering  the  window  scene  from 
"  Faust,  "  having  a  good  ear,  but  no  musical  mem- 
ory. He  was  strangely  boyish  at  times,  considering 


36  -4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

the  undercurrent  of  seriousness  in  his  nature.  As  he 
hopped  from  stone  to  stone  over  a  gently  murmuring 
brook,  he  laughed  aloud  at  his  mistake  in  having  got 
off  at  the  wrong  place  and  the  recollection  of  the  but- 
ternut  man's  ire  because  of  his  reflection  on  the  local 
paucity  of  names. 

At  length  he  stopped  on  an  eminence,  and  looked 
about  him.  On  his  right  a  corn-field,  the  corn  only 
a  few  inches  high,  and,  considering  its  youth,  desper- 
ately dejected ;  on  his  left  a  pine-wood,  remarkably 
flourishing,  considering  its  age  ;  ahead  a  road,  if  par- 
allel lines  of  fences  and  a  grassless  tract  between  them 
constitute  a  road  ;  and  overhead  the  limitless  blue  of 
the  ether  mingling  with  the  deeper  azure  of  the  dis- 
tant mountains — but  no  evidence  of  Braddox. 

It  was  the  hour  after  sunset,  that  delicious  hour 
when  tired  day  stands  whispering  the  countersign  to 
dewy  night  at  the  evening  change  of  sentry. 

Not  a  living  thing  in  sight,  save  a  huge,  lazy- 
winged  bird,  poised  in  mid-heaven  on  the  pinions  of 
faith,  it  seemed,  for  motionless  were  its  own.  Yes, 
there  was  another  sentient  creature,  an  old  negro, 
seated  on  the  gnarled  root  of  a  lofty  pine. 

Perry  came  so  unexpectedly  upon  this  white-wooled 
Ethiopian  as  to  be  almost  startled. 

"  I  say,  friend,  how  far  is  it  to  Braddox  Court- 
House  ?  " 

"  Braddox,  Mars'  ?  " — if  he  had  not  been  merely  a 
memento  of  a  bygone  day  it  would  have  been  "  Mis- 
ter" to  a  stranger — "now  it  do  'pear  strange,  but  I 
dunno." 

"  Hav'nt  you  been  there  ?  " 

"  Lor*  bless  your  soul !   yes,  more  'n  a  hunderd 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE,  37 

times.  Aint  you  ever  heer'd  tell  of  Uncle  Silas, 
Mars'?" 

" I  can  not  say  that  I  have." 

' '  I's  him.  An'  yet,  'pears  strange,  Uncle  Silas 
aint  ebber  thought  to  ax  that  yer  distance." 

"  Well,  how  long  will  it  take  me  to  walk  there  ?  " 

'"Pens  on  how  fast  you'll  walk,  Massa." 

"  I  mean  on  an  average." 

"Dunno  that  yer  way.  Eeckon  'twill  take  yer 
'bout  half -hour  by  de  road." 

"Well,  good-night,  Uncle  Silas." 

"Stop  a  bit,  young  Mars'.  'Low  de  oP  man  ter 
give  yer  a  bit  of  advice — walk  in  de  narrow  path." 

"  What  narrow  path  ?  Is  not  this  the  road  to 
Braddox?" 

"Walk  in  de  narrow  path,  for  de  highway  lead  to 
distrucshum  ! " 

Half  an  hour  more  brought  Felix  nearer  to  the 
night,  but  to  no  evidence  of  human  habitation. 

Either  Uncle  Silas  had  an  exceedingly  vague  idea 
of  time,  or  Perry  must  have  taken  the  wrong  turning 
somewhere.  Even  in  the  gathering  darkness  he  could 
see  that  the  roadside  features  were  unchanged  ;  un- 
less, indeed,  it  was  that  the  corn-fields  were  more  nu- 
merous, and  the  pine -woods  proportionately  fewer. 
There  was  no  other  indication  of  a  village.  However, 
the  wayfarer  cared  but  little.  He  had  nothing  to  look 
forward  to  on  reaching  Braddox  but  his  most  uncon- 
genial mission,  whereas  here  he  had  free  play  for  exu- 
berant vitality,  and  the  unusual  treat  of  a  summer 
evening  in  the  real  country.  And  so  he  strolled  on 
contentedly,  satisfied  that  he  must  eventually  come 
upon  some  house.  It  was  now  quite  dark,  although 


38  -4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

the  starlight  made  surrounding  objects  dimly  visible. 
Gradually  he  became  aware  that  he  was  nearing  some 
habitation.  To  his  right  there  loomed  up  what,  on 
closer  inspection,  proved  to  be  a  barn.  A  moment 
more,  and  a  turn  in  the  road,  around  a  clump  of  trees, 
revealed  at  some  distance  back  from  the  road  a  half- 
dozen  lighted  windows. 

Large  as  the  house  evidently  was,  there  was  no 
sign  of  a  farm  excepting  the  barn  he  had  passed. 
Suddenly  he  came  to  a  gate,  which  he  in  vain  tried  to 
open.  He  was  about  climbing  it  when  he  discovered 
that  although  the  gate  spanned  the  road  there  was  no 
evidence  of  a  fence  on  either  side,  save  a  heap  of  rot- 
ten rails.  Passing  around  the  obstinate  gate,  Felix 
pursued  his  way  toward  the  house. 

The  light  from  the  different  windows  cast  the 
wide  entrance-porch  into  deep  shadow.  In  groping  for 
the  steps  he  stumbled  over  some  obstacle,  and  noisily 
regained  his  footing. 

Almost  instantly  the  door  was  opened,  although 
no  light  came  through  it,  and  a  woman's  voice,  rich 
and  low,  inquired,  "  Is  that  you  Tony  ?  " 

"I  beg  your  pardon.  I  am  a  stranger,  and  have 
lost  my  way.  On  approaching  the  door  I  stumbled, 
and,  have,  I  fear,  disturbed  you." 

"  Oh,  not  in  the  least.  Will  not  you  come 
in?" 

"  Thank  you,  but  I  will  only  trouble  you  to  the 
extent  of  begging  you  to  direct  me  to  Braddox.  Brad- 
dox  Court-House,"  he  added,  mindful  of  late  mis- 
takes. 

"  It  is  over  two  miles  by  the  ford,  and  five  by  the 
bridge.  If  you  are  on  foot,  it  would  take  you  two 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  39 

hours  by  the  latter.  Pray,  come  in.  My  father  can 
direct  you  better  than  I." 

''Thanks,"  he  said,  entering.  "I  shall  need  a 
deal  of  directing,  for  I  have  already  made  several 
blunders  in  my  endeavor  to  reach  my  destination." 

"  Step  to  the  right ;  there  is  a  floor-plank  loose 
just  opposite  the  door." 

As  Perry  carefully  deviated  in  the  direction  indi- 
cated, his  imseen  companion  threw  open  an  inner 
door,  and  stood  revealed  in  a  flood  of  light. 

Perry's  first  impression  was  that  never  before  had 
he  seen  so  handsome  a  girl  and  a  face  so  full  of  char- 
acter ;  his  second,  that  the  face  was  marred  by  a  cer- 
tain cloudiness  of  expression  which  spoke  of  pride  and 
of  discontent. 


CHAPTER  V. 

FELIX  had  no  time  for  further  reflection.  The 
room  they  entered  was  large  but  bare ;  on  the  walls 
were  hung  some  execrably  painted  family  portraits. 
The  fireplace  was  a  huge  black  affair,  totally  devoid 
of  taste,  and  resembling  the  entrance  to  some  gloomy 
mausoleum.  On  one  side  of  the  chimney  there  stood 
a  table,  on  which  were,  in  a  confused  mass,  books, 
spurs,  whips,  baskets,  and  a  dozen  other  incongruous 
things.  On  the  other  side,  a  heavy  lounge,  and  re- 
clining on  it  a  pale,  middle-aged  woman,  so  startlingly 
like  Perry's  companion — in  a  sketchy,  uncertain,  and 
rather  unpleasant  way — as  at  once  to  proclaim  them 
mother  and  daughter.  Covering  this  recumbent  form 


40  4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

was  a  shawl  that  must  have  once  possessed  brilliant 
hues,  the  glory  of  which  had  been  dimmed  by  age. 
At  the  foot  of  the  lounge  sat  a  young  and  demure- 
looking  girl  of  about  eighteen,  with  inquisitive  eyes 
and  a  mass  of  fluffy,  golden  hair.  By  her  side  lay  a 
large  white  setter,  whose  soft,  affecionate  eyes  blinked 
lazily  at  his  young  mistress  as  she  entered  the  room. 

In  one  corner  there  stood  a  large,  strange-looking 
model  or  machine,  a  mass  of  pulleys  and  ropes  and 
intricate  cross-beams ;  and  in  another  corner,  on  his 
hands  and  knees  and  playing  horse  for  an  imperious 
boy  of  about  six,  who  bestrode  his  broad  back,  capered 
a  huge  negro,  awkwardly  imitating  a  trot. 

"  Mamma,  here  is  a  gentleman  who  has  lost  his 
way.  He  wished  to  reach  the  court-house,  and  cer- 
tainly must  have  taken  the  wrong  turning  at  Brook's 
corner." 

The  lady  on  the  lounge  slowly  raised  her  head, 
and  turned  on  Felix  sleepy-looking  eyes  from  under 
lazy  lids,  as  she  said  in  a  low,  lady-like  voice  :  "  Pray, 
excuse  me  from  rising,  sir,  I  am  an  invalid." 

"  Certainly,  madam.  I  regret  having  disturbed 
you.  Your  daughter  kindly  offered  to  have  me  di- 
rected to  Braddox  Court-House." 

"To-morrow,  then,  sir.  The  General  will  cer- 
tainly not  permit  a  stranger  to  leave  his  house  at 
night.  Dandy,  bring  a  chair.  Bud,  child,  tell  your 
uncle." 

The  girl  with  the  fluffy  hair  rose  and  sidled  off 
toward  the  door,  the  while  stealing  a  surreptitious 
look  at  the  stranger. 

"I  certainly  can  not  think  of  imposing  on" — be- 
gan Perry,  when  he  was  interrupted  by  the  precipi- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  £1 

tate  entrance  of  a  young  man,  who,  without  waiting 
to  look  about  him,  and  with  the  suppleness  and  grace 
of  a  panther,  rushed  to  the  couch,  fell  on  his  knees 
before  the  invalid,  and  placed  a  bunch  of  wild-flowers 
on  her  lap,  as  he  exclaimed  in  a  musical  voice  :  "An 
offering  for  Miss  Mary  from  her  devoted  slave,"  and 
then,  rising  quickly,  he  turned  toward  Felix  a  bright, 
expectant  smile. 

"  The  gentleman  is  to  stay  with  us  to-night,  Tony. 
He  has -lost  his  way.  To-morrow  you  can  show  him 
to  the  court-house,  unless,  indeed" — with  a  faint  smile 
— "  we  can  induce  him  to  stay  longer  with  us." 

"I  am  really  overwhelmed,"  murmured  Perry, 
moving  uneasily  on  a  rather  rickety  chair  which  the 
negro  had  pushed  toward  him  on  all  fours,  his  rider 
having  noisily  protested  that  he  would  not  dismount. 

The  tall,  handsome  girl  was  leaning  against  the 
mantel-shelf  in  a  careless,  graceful  pose.  At  her 
mother's  last  words  she  tossed  her  waving,  light- 
brown  hair  off  her  face,  as  she  said,  almost  petulant- 
ly :  "Let  us  not  be  hospitable  to  a  fault" — then, 
realizing  that  this  sounded  ungracious,  she  turned  on 
Felix  crimson  cheeks  as  she  added — "at  least,  to  the 
point  of  over-insistance. " 

A  slow,  measured  foot-fall  was  heard  in  the  hall, 
and  the  door  opened  to  admit  a  tall,  white-haired 
man,  dignified  and  aristocratic  in  every  line  and  feat- 
ure. As  he  advanced  he  smiled  courteously,  and  said 
in  a  low,  almost  drawling  tone  :  "  "Welcome,  sir,  to 
our  roof-tree  ;  you  must  spend  the  night  under  it." 

"  I  have  no  possible  claim  on  your  hospitality,  and 
am  conscious  that  I  have  already  disturbed  your  house- 
hold most  unwarrantably,"  said  Perry. 


42  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

"  On  the  contrary,  you  have  the  strongest  claim  ; 
you  are  a  stranger,  and  have  lost  your  way.  Pray, 
say  not  one  word  more  about  giving  trouble,  but  ac- 
cept our  hospitality  as  frankly  as  it  is  offered." 

"e  You  disarm  me,  sir,  and  I  yield." 

A  stately  bow  was  the  only  response,  as  the  old 
gentleman  turned  toward  the  sofa  :  "  My  dear," — 
nothing  could  exceed  the  gentleness,  the  courtesy  of 
his  manner — "  will  you  be  so  good  as  to  instruct  some 
one  to  order  supper  ?  To  which  room  shall  the  gen- 
tleman be  shown  ?  " 

"Bud,  my  child,  which  room  ?" 

"  The  blue  room,  aunty." 

"Dandy." 

"Yes,  Missus?" 

"  The  blue  room." 

"De  blue  room  done  leak,  Missus." 

"  Then  the  red  room." 

"  De  red  room — " 

"Dandy!" 

"Yes,  Missus?" 

"  Leave  Master  Eeggy,  and  show  the  gentleman  to 
the  red  room  ;  then  order  supper  in  half  an  hour." 

Evidently  this  effort  exhausted  the  invalid's 
strength,  for  she  closed  her  eyes  wearily. 

Perry  heartily  wished  himself  back  on  the  road,  in 
company  with  the  melancholy  corn  and  rampant  pines. 
He  was  evidently  giving  trouble  to  his  entertainers. 
He  had  plenty  of  time  for  such  reflection,  as  Reggy 
violently  rebelled  against  Dandy's  assuming  the  per- 
pendicular. 

One  by  one  the  household  became  implicated  in 
the  fray ;  all  on  the  side  of  Dandy,  however.  And 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  43 

yet  the  child  had  his  way,  and  the  patient  darky  again 
became  a  beast  of  burden. 

The  handsome  girl  alone  had  taken  no  part  in  the 
little  scene,  but  stood  by  the  mantel,  gazing  at  the 
contestants  with  flashing  eyes  and  compressed  lips. 
"When  the  affray  was  over,  "  Tony"  looked  up  at  her. 
Almost  immediately  he  went  to  her,  led  by  some  in- 
evident  motive.  He  spoke  a  half-dozen  words  rapidly, 
in  a  low  voice,  and  she  responded  with  a  grateful, 
flitting  smile.  He  shot  back  a  glad,  beaming  glance, 
and  turned  on  his  heel. 

"  Come,  sir  wanderer,  allow  me  to  show  you  to 
your  room." 

Felix  was  willing  enough,  and  with  a  comprehen- 
sive bow  to  the  others,  followed  his  guide  out  into  the 
large,  bare  hall. 

Up  a  rather  dilapidated  staircase  and  along  a  twin 
hall  to  the  one  below,  the  two  men  wended  their  way 
till  they  reached  a  door  which,  when  opened,  revealed 
inky  darkness. 

"  Damn  it !  I  have  forgotten  a  light." 

Perry  looked  up  in  astonishment  on  hearing  the 
expletive,  but,  by  the  faint  gleam  of  the  stairway- 
lamp,  he  saw  nothing  but  placidity  beaming  on  his 
companion's  face. 

"  Wait  here  a  moment,"  and  the  young  man  was 
gone,  only  to  return,  however,  almost  immediately, 
bearing  a  small  lamp. 

The  red  room  did  not  suggest  the  aptness  of  its 
name;  there  was  no  evidence  of  red  anywhere,  unless 
a  dark,  nondescript  band  of  paper  around  the  ceiling 
had  been  red  till  reduced  by  time  to  that  neutral  tint 
it  seems  to  love. 


44  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

Placing  the  lamp  on  a  table  that  teetered  respon- 
sively  by  reason  of  a  diversity  in  the  length  of  its 
antiquated  legs,  "Tony"  threw  himself  on  a  melan- 
choly horse-hair  sofa,  quite  regardless  of  its  feeble 
protest. 

"  Do  you  mind  my  staying  ?  " 

"On  the  contrary.  Perhaps  you  will  not  mind 
telling  me — but  first,  may  I  ask  if  I  am  addressing  a 
member  of  the  family  ?  " 

"  Only  the  family's  most  intimate  friend,  and  the 
family's  adorer." 

Perry  was  in  the  act  of  unpacking  his  bag.  He 
suddenly  stopped  and  looked  up.  A  suspicion  crossed 
his  mind  which,  if  it  should  prove  to  be  well  founded, 
would  indeed  place  him  in  an  awkward  predica- 
ment. 

Waiting  a  moment  to  collect  his  ideas,  he  faced 
the  debonair  young  fellow  as  he  said : 

"  Do  you  mind  telling  me  the  name  of  this  place?  " 

"  Chatterton." 

"  Then  you  are  Atherton  Leigh  ! " 

"  '  And  blush  to  find  it  fame.'" 

Perry  sat  down,  overwhelmed.  Here  was  a  com- 
plication indeed! 

"Will  you  do  me  a  favor?  Will  you  make  it  pos- 
sible for  me  to  get  to  Braddox  Court-House  to-night 
— at  once  ?  " 

Leigh  looked  up  in  astonishment.  After  a  slight 
pause  he  said  in  a  constrained  voice:  "The  General 
would  certainly  feel  aggrieved." 

"Hear  my  reason:  I  am  Mr.  Perry,  Mr.  William 
Chatterton's  legal  adviser.  I  am  sent  here  to  " — then 
lie  stopped. 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  45 

His  eyes  ablaze  with  excitement,  Leigh  sprang  to 
his  feet. 

"Does  he  agree — will  he  give  up  Chatterton?" 

"  There  are  many  points  in  this  connection  to  be 
discussed,  but  this  is  neither  the  time  nor  the  place  to 
discuss  them.  What  most  concerns  me  is  to  at  once 
leave  here." 

Relaxing  the  tension  of  his  pose,  the  young  man 
fell  back  on  the  sofa,  laughing  heartily. 

"It  is  delicious;  who  ever  heard  of  anything  so 
good!  Excuse  me,  Mr.  Perry,  but  I  can  not  help  it. 
To  think  of  Miss  Mary  having  the  Pretender's  lawyer 
under  her  roof-tree,  and  not  knowing  it !  You  must 
not  mind  our  calling  him  the  Pretender ;  we  have 
fallen  into  the  habit,  and  it  would  be  hard  to  refrain. 
After  all,  you  know,  we  could  not  be  expected  to  look 
at  him  in  any  other  light ;  that  is,  not  until  he  relin- 
quishes his  claim." 

"  To-morrow  we  will  discuss  the  matter.  For  the 
moment,  I  can  think  of  nothing  but  the  awkwardness 
of  the  situation." 

"Why  awkward?" 

Perry  looked  at  him  in  surprise.  "I  can  not  re- 
main here  under  the  circumstances ;  that  would  be 
to  abuse  hospitality." 

"  They  would  not  so  regard  it — excuse  me  a  mo- 
ment," and,  before  Perry  could  interfere,  he  was  gone. 

Mechanically  Perry  brushed  his  hair  as  he  mentally 
faced  the  situation. 

The  one  thing  connected  with  his  mission,  he  told 
himself,  which  might  have  been  impressive  was  the 
mode  of  his  approach.  To  step  upon  the  domain  as 
its  vicarious  owner,  and  yet  to  have  shown  the  great- 


46  -4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

est  possible  regard  for  the  feelings  of  the  incumbents 
would  not  have  been  undignified,  but  as  matters  now 
stood — he  suddenly  recalled  his  client's  words:  "Ap- 
pease and  reconcile  Mrs.  Chester,  in  fact,  smooth 
things  over."  A  nice  beginning  he  had  made!  The 
absurdity  of  the  whole  thing  struck  him  forcibly,  and 
he  laughed  notwithstanding  his  annoyance.  His 
merriment  was  cut  short  by  a  gentle  tap  at  the 
door. 

In  answer  to  his  "  Come  in,"  it  opened  slowly  and 
admitted  a  tiny  black  boy,  all  teeth  and  eyes  and 
ebony,  who  announced  in  solemn  voice,  "  Supper 
ready." 

In  the  lower  hall  Felix  found  his  host  awaiting 
him. 

"Atherton  has  told  me  your  name  and  has  an- 
nounced your  mission,  Mr.  Perry.  He  has  also  in- 
formed us  that  you  feel  some  hesitancy  in  remaining 
with  us  under  the  circumstances ;  in  fact,  that  you 
have  a  sense  of  awkwardness  at  accepting  our  hospi- 
tality. Allow  me  to  assure  you  that  we  have  no  such 
feeling  on  our  part,  and  shall  consider  ourselves  hon- 
ored by  your  company,  both  in  your  individual  capa- 
city and  as  Mr.  Chatterton's  legal  representative. 
Pray  take  me  at  my  word  and  dismiss  all  idea  of  the 
situation  being  strange  or  unnatural." 

The  tone,  as  well  as  the  words,  were  too  cordial  to 
admit  of  further  protest ;  still  Felix  felt  obliged  to 
say: 

"Before  accepting  your  most  kind  invitation  I 
must  warn  you  that  my  client's  ultimate  decision  may 
not  accord  with  your  expectations,  that  is,  if  these 
coincide  with  Mr.  Leigh's,  as  just  expressed  to  me. 


A    VIRG^flA  INHERITANCE.  47 

Of  course  I  am  not  forestalling  negotiation  but  am 
merely  desirous  of  occupying  no  false  position." 

The  old  General  stiffened  visibly.  "  We  shall 
entirely  dissociate  your  personality  from  your  mission, 
Mr.  Perry,"  he  said,  his  soft,  deliberate  voice  in  odd 
contrast  with  his  pose.  "Even  if  your  client  should 
be  obstinate  to  the  last  we  shall  certainly  not  hold 
you  responsible  for  his  obduracy."  There  was  no 
time  for  more,  as  the  General  threw  open  the  door. 

On  their  entering,  Mrs.  Chester  slowly  rose  from 
the  lounge  with  the  assistance  of  "Bud,"  and  came 
forward  to  meet  Perry.  "  I  am  pleased  to  find  we  are 
not  to  welcome  you  as  a  total  stranger,  but  that,  as 
my  kinsman's  confidential  adviser,  we  can  claim  a 
personal  interest  in  you.  Will  you  give  me  your 
arm?" 

With  more  formality  than  the  general  dilapidation 
and  out-at-elbow  condition  of  the  house  seemed  to 
warrant,  the  cortege  filed  solemnly  into  the  dining- 
room.  Mrs.  Chester  motioned  to  Felix  to  take  the 
seat  at  her  right,  and  sank  languidly  into  her  place  at 
the  head  of  the  table.  The  beauty  sat  very  quiet,  her 
eyes  fixed  on  her  plate.  The  General  asked  a  rather 
perfunctory  "grace,"  and  " Bud  "  came  into  the  room 
flushed  and  driven  looking,  and,  in  some  undemon- 
strable  way,  suggesting  to  Perry  that  she  had  the 
whole  care  of  the  household  on  her  young  shoulders. 
Atherton  sustained  most  of  the  conversation,  moving 
easily  and  irresponsibly  from  one  theme  to  another. 

Felix  was  busy  with  his  own  thoughts.  He  was 
wondering  if  he  should  ever  hear  the  persons  by  whom 
he  was  surrounded  called  by  their  real  names.  The 
sobriquets  of  the  household  of  Chester  seemed  endless; 


48  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

for  variety  and  apparent  irrelevance  he  had  never 
known  their  equal.  Mrs.  Chester  was  "Miss  Mary  " 
and  all  its  possible  diminutives,  to  all  but  the  General. 
Miss  Chester  was  "Chatterton,"  "Chet,"  "Chat," 
"  Chatty,"  or  "  Chatterbox,"  according  to  the  degree 
of  familiarity  of  the  speaker.  Leigh  was  called 
"Ath,"  but  more  frequently  "Tony."  On  one  occa- 
sion, during  the  evening  repast,  Bud  called  him 
Atherton  in  full,  which  so  surprised  Felix  by  its 
unusual  formality  that  he  had  a  ludicrous  inclination 
to  ask  the  young  man  "Who  gave  thee  this  name?" 
The  golden-haired  lass  was  called  "  Eose,"  or  "  Bud," 
and  by  the  General  the  two  combined,  which  gave  a 
clew  as  to  how  the  more  frequent  sobriquet  had  been 
fastened  upon  her.  As  for  the  child  Keggy,  he  was 
an  impenetrable  mystery  as  yet.  This  infant  was  not 
present,  and  Perry  found  himself  wondering  how 
Dandy,  who  was  now  erect  and  smiling  as  he  per- 
formed his  busy  tasks  about  the  table,  had  succeeded 
in  ridding  himself  of  the  incubus. 

One  thing  became  more  and  more  evident  as  the 
meal  progressed ;  and  that  was  the  absolute  depend- 
ence of  the  household  upon  Dandy.  Upon  him  de- 
pended the  family's  memory  and  devolved  the  family's 
conscience.  Like  Figaro,  he  was  called  here  and 
there  and  everywhere,  only  he  did  not  have  the  time 
left  him  to  come  down  to  the  footlights  and  sing 
about  it.  What  Dandy  did  not  do,  was  done  by  Bud. 
Where  authority  and  direction  were  needed,  she  was 
always  called  on. 

Felix  would  have  been  still  more  astonished  if  he 
had  known  of  the  meager  larder  and  the  limited  cook- 
ing utensils,  and  if  he  had  followed  the  faithful  Dandy 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  4.9 

into  the  kitchen  and  seen  him  push  to  one  side  the 
incompetent  cook,  with  the  dexterity  of  a  Proteus 
pin  an  apron  to  his  chest  with  his  ample  chin,  and 
seizing  a  gridiron  or  pan,  perform  some  culinary  feat 
therewith,  then  rush  back  into  the  dining-room  with 
the  triumphant  result. 

As  to  General  and  Mrs.  Chester,  Perry  mentally 
classified  them  respectively  as  a  gentleman  of  the  old 
school  and  a  malade  imaginaire,  which  proved  him 
more  sagacious  than  he  himself  was  conscious  of  at  the 
time. 

The  beautiful  woman  opposite  to  him  was  to  the 
young  stranger  a  sealed  book,  the  title  of  which,  in 
its  lovely  binding,  was  alone  discernible ;  there  he 
read  "  Pride,  Prejudice,  and  Discontent."  Stay,  there 
was  suddenly  shown  him  a  glimpse  of  the  text,  for,  in 
answer  to  some  caressing  remark  from  Bud,  she  turned 
on  the  young  girl  a  look  so  loving  and  tender  that 
Perry,  catching  her  eyes  as  they  wandered  away  from 
the  golden-haired  lass  at  his  side,  could  scarcely  re- 
strain a  flash  of  approval. 

And,  lastly,  there  was  Atherton  Leigh. 

Perry  had  never  before  seen  this  genus.  He  could 
not  in  the  least  make  him  out.  And  no  great  wonder 
either,  for,  since  the  early  morning  of  the  world, 
strength,  self-reliance,  and  self-respect  never  have  been 
able  to  understand  inconsequence,  vacillation  and 
moral  weakness. 

Still,  it  was  impossible  not  to  be  attracted.  His 
smile  was  infectious,  his  joyousness  contagious.  The 
gods  had  been  magnificently  generous  to  this  modern 
Antinous.  His  figure  was  perfection  ;  the  eye  never 
wearied  of  following  its  unconscious  grace.  The  small, 
4 


50  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

well-poised  head  was  crowned  with  curling  brown  hair, 
and  the  pink  and  white  of  his  complexion  framed  in  a 
reddish,  Vandyke  beard. 

These  thoughts  and  observations  made  it  difficult 
for  the  sole  stranger  at  the  table  to  play  his  part 
gracefully,  and  he  was  glad  when  the  elaborate  meal 
was  finished,  and  Mrs.  Chester  announced  the  fact  by 
rising.  In  leaving  the  dining-room  the  same  ceremo- 
ny that  had  been  observed  in  entering  it  was  repeated, 
but  when  the  sitting-room  was  reached,  formality  was 
so  markedly  relaxed  that  the  General  and  Atherton — 
Felix  pleaded  some  excuse — lighted  their  pipes.  If 
contrast  is  indeed  a  pleasant  variety,  Chatterton  fur- 
nished unlimited  gratification  to  all  new-comers  ; 
in  etiquette  as  in  everything  else  the  range  was 
large. 

Observing  that  his  guest  gazed  at  the  model  in  the 
corner  of  the  room,  General  Chester  explained  that  it 
was  an  invention  of  his  own  for  spinning,  and  so  ex- 
haustively demonstrated  the  imperfection  of  all  pre- 
vious inventions  for  the  same  purpose,  and  so  clearly 
showed  the  advantage  of  his  own  by  statistics  and 
comparisons,  that  Felix  was  deeply  interested.  It 
was  with  considerable  sur-prise,  therefore,  that,  he 
learned  that  not  only  had  the  invention  not  been  pat- 
ented, but  it  had  not  even  been  practically  tested. 
"No,"  continued  the  General,  "  It  is  not  yet  quite 
finished  ;  in  fact,  I  doubt  if  I  shall  be  able  to  perfect 
it  for  some  time  to  come.  Other  and  more  important 
matters  claim  my  attention.  I  am  now  at  work  on 
an  invention  which  is  growing  under  my  hands  so  un- 
expectedly and  so  marvelously  that  I  stand  almost 
appalled  at  its  yet  undeveloped  possibilities."  But  it 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  5J 

was  said  as  quietly  and  as  monotonously  as  if  he  were 
talking  in  his  sleep. 

And  so  the  General  talked  on  for  nearly  an  hour, 
and  Perry  sat  spell-bound. 

If  the  old  gentleman  had  boasted,  or  in  any  way 
given  evidence  of  conceit,  the  spell  would  have  been 
broken  ;  but  to  look  into  his  quiet,  aristocratic  face, 
and  to  hear  the  indolent  voice,  in  its  soft,  Southern 
accent,  talk  of  revolutionizing  the  carrying  power  of 
the  world's  commerce  ;  of  mastering  aerial  navigation, 
or  of  stupendous  changes  in  the  chemical  world,  was 
more  than  attractive,  it  was  convincing. 

All  the  while  Atherton  sat  by  the  side  of  Chatter- 
ton,  silent  with  the  typical  Southern  courtesy  which 
reminds  one  of  the  Biblical  command  to  the  young 
not  to  lift  up  their  voices  in  the  presence  of  their  eld- 
ers. Now  and  then,  to  be  sure,  in  a  pause,  he  gave 
vent  to  some  laudatory  exclamation  which  sounded 
like  the  "Selah!"  from  some  devout  Methodist  at 
"  meeting." 

From  time  to  time  Perry  was  conscious  that  Chat- 
terton's  eyes  were  fixed  upon  him  ;  at  these  moments 
Dot  only  did  his  attention  to  the  General  slacken,  but, 
by  some  unaccountable  magnetic  influence,  he  felt  his 
faith  in  the  inventor's  genius  weaken.  It  was  as  if 
the  daughter's  was  the  negative  to  the  father's  posi- 
tive influence. 

Shortly  after  supper  Mrs.  Chester  pleaded  fatigue 
and  retired,  the  patient  Bud  accompanying  her.  After 
the  departure  of  the  hostess  conversation  flowed  more 
freely.  While  she  had  been  present  there  had  been  nu- 
merous interruptions.  The  window  had  to  be  closed 
and  the  door  opened,  and  then  the  height  of  the  one 


52  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

and  the  angle  of  the  other  had  to  be  readjusted.  To 
manipulate  the  window  was  not  as  easy  as  might  be 
imagined,  for  there  were  neither  weights  nor  fasten- 
ings, and  many  articles  not  intended  for  the  service 
had  to  take  part ;  these  were  too  long  or  too  short, 
too  fat  or  too  thin  to  please  my  lady,  and  in  their  ad- 
justment to  suit  her  fancy  much  time  and  more  pa- 
tience had  been  consumed.  In  a  particularly  irreverent 
moment  Perry  wondered  why  this  prince  of  inventors 
had  not  contrived  some  simple  device  to  hold  the  win- 
dow at  any  notch  in  his  wife's  variable  fancy  ;  forget- 
ting that  your  true  inventor  may  rival  Joshua's  feat  of 
suspending  the  action  of  the  sun,  but  does  not  suspend 
that  of  the  sash. 

With  a  laudable  desire  to  be  Boswell  to  the  Gen- 
eral's Johnson,  Leigh  revealed  the  fact  that  there  was 
a  laboratory  in  the  rear  of  the  house,  and,  after  some 
persuasion,  the  inventor  thither  led  his  guest.  Chat- 
terton  accompanied  them,  but  she  took  little  part  in 
the  conversation.  The  laboratory  was  a  curious  sight. 
Perry  could  not  but  think  it  misnamed,  and  that  the 
term  workshop  would  have  been  more  appropriate. 
Here  were  frames  of  all  sorts  and  sizes ;  work-benches, 
crucibles — the  only  thing  suggestive  of  a  laboratory — 
turning -lathes,  pulleys,  forges,  and  a  dozen  other 
things. 

In  the  center  of  a  massive  bench  stood  a  strange 
object,  resembling  a  cylinder  surrounded  with  a  for- 
est of  cog-wheels. 

"This  is  my  last  invention  ;  I  call  it  the  'De- 
stroyer,'" said  the  General,  with  a  voice  as  gentle  as 
if  he  were  announcing  the  invention  of  a  new  device 
for  propagating  charity  and  good-will  as  chickens  are 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  53 

propagated  by  patent  incubators.  Perry  examined 
"  the  Destroyer,"  but  failed  to  arrive  at  any  satisfac- 
tory appreciation  of  its  purpose. 

"  May  I  ask  what  it  is  to  destroy  ?  "  he  said. 

"Well,"  drawled  the  inventor,  "after  all,  it  may 
be  a  misnomer,  for  its  ultimate  end  is  not  destruction, 
although  such  will  at  first  appear  its  destiny — or,  shall 
we  say  theirs,  meaning  its  possible  victims  ?  It  is  an 
engine  of  war,  Mr.  Perry."  Felix  would  have  been 
more  interested  if  it  had  been  an  engine  of  peace, 
being  of  the  plowshare  and  pruning-hook  rather  than 
of  the  sword  and  spear  persuasion  ;  still,  his  curiosity 
was  excited. 

"Why,  then,  is  it  misnamed  ?" 

"Because,  on  the  principle  of  Dr.  Hahnemann's 
similia  similibus  curantur,  the  way  to  end  warfare  is 
to  make  its  engines  annihilatory.  So  long  as  there  is 
any  question  between  the  efficacy  of  the  projectile 
and  the  resisting  power  of  defensive  armor,  the  merit 
of  each  will  be  at  issue.  To  invent  an  engine  which 
is  irresistible  is  to  put  an  end  to  warfare  as  surely  as 
to  contrive  absolutely  impervious  armor,  for,  *  When 
a  strong  man  armed  keepeth  his  palace,  his  goods  are 
in  peace,  but  when  a  stronger  than  he  shall  come  upon 
him,  and  overcome  him,  he  taketh  from  him  all  his 
armor  wherein  he  trusted,  and  divideth  his  spoils.' 
Does  not  this  evidence  the  righteousness  of  strength  ? 
He  who  is  impregnable  physically,  morally,  or  men- 
tally, is  at  peace,  and  the  agent  who  or  which — be  it 
superhuman,  human,  or  inanimate — secures  the  condi- 
tion, is  an  engine  of  peace.  Well,  that  is  the  pacific 
mission  of  my  Destroyer.  Do  you  doubt  its  capacity 
for  concord  ?  It  automatically  projects  a  thousand 


54:  -4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

bullets  a  minute — or  will,  when  I  perfect  the  spring 
or  moving  gear." 

While  carefully  inspecting  this  wonderful  inven- 
tion, Perry  inadvertently  pushed  from  an  adjoining 
shelf  a  wooden  cylinder ;  it  would  have  fallen  to  the 
floor  and  been  broken  but  that  Chatterton  caught  it 
in  time.  -  Keplacing  it  on  the  shelf  she  absolved  the 
repentant  and  self-accusing  Perry  with  a  smile,  as  she 
half  apologetically  murmured,  "It  is  only  a  churn." 

"Ah,  yes,"  added  her  father,  as  he  gently  stroked 
her  silken  hair,  "  but  it  is  not  my  idea,  Mr.  Perry  ;  it 
is  my  daughter's  own.  The  dairy  is  her  special  prov- 
ince and  pride,  and  this  churn  is  the  result.  It  is 
her  first  and  last  invention,  and  yet  we  expect  to  real- 
ize an  enormous  fortune  from  it." 

This  was  said  with  the  indulgent  raillery  of  an 
affectionate  father  and  a  generous  inventor. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FROM  the  land  of  forge tfulness  Perry  was  called, 
on  the  morning  after  his  arrival  at  Chatterton,  by  a 
gentle  tap  at  the  door  and  Dandy's  application  for 
admittance.  It  was  only  necessary  to  grant  it  ver- 
bally, as  there  was  no  key  to  the  lock. 

"What  on  earth  is  that,  Dandy  ?" 

"Mint  julep,  sah." 

"Forme?" 

"  Yes  sah,  with  Mars'  Tony's  complemers,  an'  he 
axes  fer  yer  health." 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  55 

"It's  the  better,  Dandy,  for  not  having  known 
that  experience." 

"  Sah  ?  " 

"  Tell  Mr.  Leigh  I  am  quite  well,  and  thank  him 
for  his  kind  attention." 

"Yes  sah." 

"But  what  am  I  to  do  with  the  julep  ?" 

"Drink  it,  sah." 

This  certainly  seemed  a  not  unnatural  answer,  and 
yet  it  struck  Perry  as  funny.  He  laughed,  "What, 
at  this  hour  ?  I  never  did  such  a  thing  in  my  life  !" 

"  Better  try,  jus'  once." 

It  really  seemed  as  if  a  refusal  would  be  unkind, 
so  persuasive  were  the  darky's  tone  and  manner. 

"No,  no,  Dandy.  Better  rest  satisfied  with  the 
ills  we  have.  Does  Mr.  Leigh  live  here  ?  " 

Dandy  regretfully  placed  the  despised  julep  on  a 
table,  and  turned  his  attention  to  brushing  Perry's 
clothes,  as  he  answered  :  "Not  as  't  were  regl'ar,  sah, 
but  he  here  'bout  harf  de  time." 

The  strains  of  a  violin  came  from  some  distant 
part  of  the  house.  "  What  is  that  ?  "  asked  Perry. 

"Date  Mars'  Tony,  sah." 

"  He  is  dressed  ;  then  I  must  be  late  ?" 

"No,  sah,  he's  not  up  yit.  He  got  de  fiddle  in 
bed  wid  him." 

"In  bed!" 

"Yes  sah.  Mars'  Tony  most  all  time  plays  de 
fiddle  like  dat.  He  sit  up  da,  an'  wont  eat  nuffin, 
though  I'  se  jus  fetched  him  nices'  sort  'er  brekfus.' 
He's  had  his  julep,  an'  has  been  makin'  me  dance 
'  Juba'  dis  las'  half-hour." 

"  I  should  think  you  had  little  time  for  dancing," 


56  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

answered  Perry,  at  this  last  revelation  ready  for  any- 
thing odd  or  eccentric. 

"  Got  ter  dance  when  Mars'  Tony  fiddle.  Tain'  in 
human  nater  to  stan'  still  when  dat  yer  horse-har's 
scrapin'  de  cat-gut." 

This  being  conclusive,  Perry  yielded  the  point. 

"  Is  his  home  near  Chatterton?" 

"  Ober  dar  by  de  run,  at  Sunnycrest.  Mars'  Tony's 
mudder's  a  mighty  good  woman  ;  she's  de  Christianest 
woman  ebber  you  see.  She's  pow'rful  lonesome,  tho', 
or  would  be,  'twa'nt  fur  her  God.  Dat's  'bout  de  only 
comp'ny  she  keep  now." 

Felix  had  not  intended  to  elicit  Atherton's  family 
history,  but  he  had  to  hear  much  of  it.  Dandy  in- 
formed him  of  many  traits  of  mother  and  son,  loyally 
glossing  over  what  might  seem  to  their  disadvantage, 
but  unbounded  where  he  could  give  due  meed  of 
praise.  And  through  it  all  the  weird  notes  of  the 
violin  came  from  the  distance,  giving  a  quaint  and 
not  unpoetic  support  to  the  honest  darky's  monoto- 
nous droning,  half  of  which  only  was  intelligible  to 
Perry's  unaccustomed  ear. 

As  the  recital  seemed  endless,  Felix  cut  it  short  by 
inquiring  as  to  breakfast,  and  being  told  it  was  a 
movable  feast,  and  that  his  but  awaited  his  conven- 
ience, sent  the  servant  off  for  shaving- water,  and  arose. 

It  was  a  rainy  day.  Not  only  did  it  rain  outside, 
but  the  red  room  gave  ocular  proof  that  it,  too,  "  done 
leaked." 

Felix  found  the  breakfast-room  deserted.  He 
walked  to  the  window,  and,  standing  in  its  deep  em- 
brasure, looked  out  upon  the  drenched  and  gloomy 
scene. 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  57 

The  door  stood  ajar.  Suddenly  there  were  voices 
in  the  hall,  and  before  he  had  time  to  make  his  pres- 
ence known,  Perry  heard  Chatterton  exclaim:  "It  is 
too  bad,  Bud ;  what  will  he  think?  These  Northerners 
never  can  understand  us.  How  can  he  guess  the 
miserable  shifts  to  which  we  are  reduced?"  The 
voice  ceased,  and  Bud  entered  the  room  alone. 

As  Perry  came  forward  she  started  violently,  but, 
almost  instantly  recovering  her  self-possession,  turned 
her  anxious,  youthful  eyes  up  to  his.  "  Miss  Chester 
resents  bitterly  our  poverty.  Pray,  sir,  do  not  place 
on  her  words  more  importance  than  they  deserve." 

"If  there  is  anything  to  forget,  it  is  forgotten. 
Need  Miss  Chester  know  I  was  here ;  it  might  dis- 
tress her?" 

She  gave  him  a  grateful  look  but  made  no  answer. 

And  now  Dandy  entered,  and  the  golden-haired 
little  housekeeper  busied  herself  ministering  to  Perry's 
wants,  seated  demurely  behind  the  tea-urn. 

"Do  not  you  breakfast?"  asked  Felix. 

"Oh,  I  had  mine  hours  ago." 

"Am  I  then  so  very  late?  I  placed  myself  in 
Dandy's  hands,  and  relied  implicitly  upon  his  discre- 
tion." 

"  Oh,  no,  you  are  not  late ;  Atherton  has  not 
appeared.  I  believe  he  is  still  playing  on  his  violin. 
The  others  are  breakfasting  with  Aunt  Mary ;  she 
wishes  to  consult  them  about — "  She  stopped,  crim- 
soning to  the  roots  of  her  hair.  Felix  at  once  came 
to  her  relief. 

"I  presume  that,  being  an  invalid,  Mrs.  Chester 
breakfasts  in  her  room." 

"In  her  study." 


58  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

This  sounded  literary.  Felix  wondered  if  the 
study  was  as  misnamed  as  the  General's  laboratory. 

"I  am  afraid  I  have  kept  you  from  the  others." 

"  Oh,  no,  I  am  not  needed  there,  and  besides,  I 
have  the  house  to  look  after." 

"  Can  not  I  be  of  use?    Pray,  command  me." 

Bud  laughed.  "I  should  not  know  what  to  do 
with  you." 

"  Only  let  me  get  hold  of  something,  and  I  will 
prove  my  Yankee  origin  by  my  adaptability." 

"  Are  the  Yankees  so  adaptable?  I  wish  we  were, 
here  in  Virginia." 

Felix  smiled  at  the  little  practical  economist  while 
wondering  at  her  common  sense.  Somehow  the  at- 
mosphere of  the  place  did  not  suggest  common  sense. 

"  You  are  evidently  not  so  absorbed  in  your  house- 
hold duties  as  to  prevent  a  good  deal  of  wise  thought," 
he  said.  » 

Here  the  conversation  was  interrupted  by  Chatter- 
ton's  entrance.  As  Perry  rose  she  turned  to  him  with 
a  slight  inclination  of  the  head. 

"  I  hope  Miss  Hetherinton  has  taken  good  care  of 
you?" — So  Bud  was  Miss  Hetherinton! 

"Excellent,  thank  you.  And  not  only  physical 
but  mental.  We  have  discussed  other  matters  than 
eggs  and  muffins." 

"  Has  she  dilated  on  the  sin  of  fastidiousness  in 
handling  matters  commercial,  and  on  the  virtue  of 
sorghum  and  molasses  as  tending  to  elevate  the  soul? 
She  is  dreadfully  democratic,  only  I  am  persuaded  it 
is  entirely  theoretic,  and  that  she  would  be  the  first  to 
revolt  from  the  practical  application  of  her  theories." 
Still  she  smiled  kindly  on  the  young  girl. 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  59 

"  Miss  Hetherinton  was  most  orthodox  from  my 
standpoint." 

"  It  is  certainly  a  question  of  standpoint.  To  me 
she  is  heterodox." 

"  Then  you  think  our  doxy  is  not  the  same?  " 

"Not  if  yours  gauges  everything  by  the  measure 
of  success." 

"  It  is  a  practical  test,  and  this  is  a  practical  age, 
Miss  Chester." 

"I  do  not  stand  up  for  the  age." 

"Stand  up!  "Why,  you  all  seem  to  hare  risen  to 
address  the  chair,"  exclaimed  Atherton,  rushing  in. 
"  Talking  of  the  chair,  Miss  Mary  is  installed  as  pres- 
identess,  and  I  am  commissioned  as  herald  to  summon 
the  bearer  of  a  flag  of  truce  from  the  enemy.  Shall 
we  blindfold  him  that  he  may  not  report  our  weakness 
to  the  Pretender?  Come,  Sir  Jacobite." 

Bud  smiled,  but  Chatterton  looked  annoyed. 
"Shall  we  go  to  my  mother's  study?"  she  said. 

To  his  surprise,  Perry  found  "  the  study  "  to  be  the 
room  into  which  he  had  been  ushered  on  his  arrival. 

Mrs.  Chester  was  reclining  on  the  sofa  and  the 
surroundings  were  unchanged,  save  that  Reggy  had 
been  forcibly  removed,  as  evidenced  by  angry  shrieks 
mellowing  in  the  distance. 

The  General  was  not  present.  No  one  explained 
his  absence,  but  Perry  afterwards  discovered  that  his 
sensitiveness  to  business  worries  was  respected,  and 
that  he  was,  when  possible,  given  timely  warning  of 
their  approach.  Felix  was  used  to  unquestioned  as- 
sumption of  personal  responsibility  and  duty,  and  its 
avoidance  appeared  to  him  evidence  of  great  weak- 
ness. 


60  -4    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

Chatterton  went  straight  to  a  seat  in  the  window, 
and  Leigh,  after  placing  a  chair  by  the  table  for  the 
lawyer,  took  his  stand  by  her  side. 

"My  kinsman,  Mr.  Perry,"  began  Mrs.  Chester, 
after  a  few  civil  words  of  greeting,  "  desires  to  com- 
municate with  me  in  regard  to  the  estate  of  Chatter- 
ton,  I  believe.  At  least,  I  infer  this  from  what  you 
said  to  the  General.  Is  it  your  pleasure  now  to  lay 
before  me  Mr.  Chatterton's  proposition?" 

"  It  is  for  that  purpose  I  am  in  Virginia,  although 
I,  of  course,  had  no  intention  of  imposing  on  your 
hospitality.  Shall  I  begin?" 

If  in  New  York  the  expedition  had  appeared  un- 
necessary, merely  the  freak  of  a  visionary,  there,  on 
the  ground,  it  seemed  absurd.  What  he  had  to  say 
could  have  been  equally  as  well  written.  It  practically 
amounted  to  nothing  less  than  an  announcement  of 
his  client's  intention  of  enforcing  his  rights,  and  the 
lawyer  had  lent  himself  to  the  impossible  task  of  tell- 
ing a  disagreeable  thing  so  diplomatically  as  to  allay 
resentment  or  even  disappointment.  A  feeling  of 
vexation  came  over  him.  Not  only  had  he,  he  told 
himself,  come  on  a  fool's  errand,  but  he  had  to  play 
the  fool  before  those  to  whom  accident  had  made  him 
indebted  for  the  kindest  hospitality.  There  was 
another  complication.  He  felt  in  honor  bound  not 
to  refer  to  Atherton  Leigh's  letter,  and  yet  how  was 
he  otherwise  to  account  plausibly  for  his  presence? 
Still,  here  he  was,  and  he  had  to  say  something. 
Fortunately  for  him  Mrs.  Chester  was  so  absorbed  in 
her  own  grievance  in  the  matter  that  she  only  needed 
"a,  lead"  to  do  the  running  herself. 

"  Your  cousin,  Mrs.  Chester,  sent  me  here  from  a 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  61 

dislike  to  merely  formal  business  correspondence 
between  relatives.  My  client  has  certain  indubitable 
rights  which  he  might  enforce,  but  he  prefers  to  claim 
them  when  and  in  such  manner  as  may  accord  with 
your  convenience." 

"Tony,  please  open  the  window.  Bud,  be  so 
good  as  to  close  that  door.  The  will,  Mr.  Perry,  may 
leave  me  powerless  to  impose  conditions,  and  of  course 
I  will  not  stoop  to  ask  favors.  Although  I  have 
certain  rights  in  the  premises  myself,  as  I  see  the 
question,  I  will  not  assert  them ;  not  at  least  till  I 
have  heard  your  mission  in  full.  What  is  my  cousin's 
desire?  If  he  is  reasonable  we  may  meet  him  half- 
way." 

"  Mother  ! " 

"I  am  quite  able,  Chatterton,  to  manage  this 
myself.  Any  suggestion  you  may  have  to  make  will 
be  duly  considered,  but  not  your  criticism.  What, 
Mr.  Perry,  does  Mr.  Chatterton  propose?" 

"To  consult  your  wishes  as  far  as  is  consistent 
with  a  due  regard  to  the  interests  committed  to  his 
keeping  by  his  uncle's  will.  These  interests  he  looks 
upon  in  the  light  of  a  trust,  and  to  be  handed  by  him, 
unimpaired  and  un diminished,  to  some  one  of  the 
name  of  Chatterton  who  will  survive  him." 

"Truly  a  noble  aspiration  to  be  weighed  against 
the  natural  claims  of  those  whose  every  association  is 
centered  in  the  place  itself  ! "  exclaimed  Atherton. 
"Do  not  check  me,  please,  Miss  Mary.  I  know 
your  pride  will  not  allow  you  to  speak  for  your- 
self, and  some  one  should  be  heard  on  the  side  of 
equity." 

"Not  too  much  zeal,  Atherton,  not  too  much 


62  4-    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

zeal,"  chid  Mrs.  Chester,  mildly ;  but  it  was  an  in- 
dorsement for  all  that. 

Chatterton  rose  impulsively  from  her  chair  and 
came  forward.  There  was  evidence  of  strong  excite- 
ment in  her  pale  face  and  flashing  eyes,  yet  she  spoke 
quietly  enough.  "  You  said,  mamma,  you  would 
listen  to  my  suggestions ;  allow  me,  then,  to  propose 
we  inform  cousin  William  that  we  fully  recognize  the 
justice  of  his  claim,  and  that  we  thank  him  for  his 
courtesy  in  offering  to  consult  our  convenience,  but 
that  we  will  tax  it  only  long  enough  to  remove  to — to 
another  house." 

"  Chatterton  ! " 

"You  know,  mamma,  this  has  been  my  advice 
from  the  first.  Had  it  been  heeded  we  should  not 
now  be  occupying  the  humiliating  position  of  having 
to  be  reminded  that  it  is  time  something  were  settled." 
Then,  turning  her  pale,  excited  face  toward  Felix,  she 
added:  "The  fault  has  been  altogether  ours,  sir,  and 
neither  your  client  nor  his  attorney  have  cause  to 
reproach  themselves  with  a  single  omission  of  courtesy. 
Pray  attribute  our  dilatoriness  to  its  true  cause — the 
difficulty  of  realizing  that  time  does  not  stand  still 
while  we,  in  our  different  ways,  linger  to  mourn  over 
the  old  homestead."  And  she  threw  herself  into  a 
chair  and  covered  her  face  with  her  hands. 

There  was  a  moment's  silence,  and  then — 

"  Bud,  my  child,  please  close  the  window  ;  Ather- 
ton,  open  the  door."  Turning  to  the  lawyer,  she 
continued:  "My  daughter  is  too  impulsive.  She 
lacks  the  discretion  of  maturer  years. " 

Perry  took  a  mental  exception,  but  said  nothing. 

After  a  moment  Mrs.  Chester  resumed:  "Does 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  63 

not  the  law  allow  a  certain  time  for  an  estate  to  be 
closed  up?" 

"It  does." 

"Has  that  time  elapsed?" 

"It  has,  Mrs.  Chester." 

"  Is  it  generally  regarded  as  an  unreasonable  thing 
if  circumstances  make  it  convenient  for  the  incum- 
bents of  an  estate  to  prolong  the  time?  " 

"The  option  rests  only  with  the  legatee,  or,  if 
contested,  with  the  court." 

"And  in  the  present  case  if  we  accept  your  client's 
offer  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  made,  (as  I  understand 
it),  and  agree  to  a  truce  of,  say,  another  year  or  two, 
would  disinterested  parties  have  any  shadow  of  excuse 
for  thinking  that  we  exceeded  reasonable  limits?" 

"Mamma,"  cried  Chatterton,  passionately,  "you 
must  not  suggest  it !  We  can  not  with  dignity  re- 
main." 

"Be  quiet,  Chat.  I  insist  that  there  be  no  further 
interruptions.  Mr.  Perry,  will  you  kindly  inform  me 
if  lam  right?" 

"Do  I  understand  that  you  relinquish  all  claim  to 
the  place,  and  merely  wish  to  discuss  the  terms  of  your 
further  occupancy?"  asked  Felix. 

"Dear  Miss  Mary  !"  exclaimed  Atherton,  glaring 
fiercely  at  the  lawyer,  "  do  not  accept  anything  as  a 
favor.  Do  not  be  driven  into  concession.  As  a  com- 
promise, agree  to  what  you  will. " 

"  If  I  concede  anything,  Atherton,  it  will  be  only 
because  I  am  not  willing  to  stoop  to  wrangle  with  my 
kinsman.  He  must  understand  that  we  do  not  barter 
our  acres." 

"  Well  said,  Miss  Mary,  well  said  ! " 


64  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

"But  they  are  not  ours,  we  have  no  legal  claim 
whatever  to  them  ! "  cried  Chatterton.  "  Oh  !  do  not 
let  us  act  from  such  a  false  idea  of  right,  such  a  mere- 
ly sentimental  appreciation  of  the  situation.  It  is 
hard  enough  to  part  with  the  dear  old  place,  Heaven 
knows  ;  but,  oh,  it  will  be  worse  to  part  with  dignity  !" 

Bud  leaned  forward  and  whispered  to  Mrs.  Chester, 
who  heard  her  through,  and  then  turned  to  Felix. 

"Miss  Hetherinton  reminds  me  that  I  am  not 
strong  enough  to  continue  this  interview  now.  May 
not  I  beg  that  further  consideration  of  the  matter 
be  postponed  until  to-morrow  ?  Meantime,  we,  of 
course,  hold  you  as  our  guest.  I  trust  that  in  our  not 
unnatural  excitement  over  a  question  of  such  moment, 
we  have  said  nothing  discourteous  or  wounding  ?" 

Felix  had  risen.  He,  of  course,  deprecated  the 
idea  last  suggested.  As  to  prolonging  his  stay,  how- 
ever, he  demurred.  "I  can  not  think  of  inconven- 
iencing you  further.  I  shall  go  to  Braddox  Court- 
House  and  return  to-morrow  to  attend  upon  you." 

"You  will  thereby  offend  both  the  General  and 
me.  Besides,  where  would  you  stop  there  ?  " 

"At  the  inn." 

"There  is  no  inn." 

"  No  inn  !    Is  it  not  the  county-seat  ?  " 

"Yes,  but  there  is  no  inn.  You  must,  after  all, 
remain  with  us." 

"  Pray,  believe  me,  it  is  not  from  lack  of  inclina- 
tion ;  I  am  only  fearful  of  inconveniencing  you." 

"By  remaining  you  will  not  only  please  us,  but 
will  prove  the  friendly  spirit  which  actuated  my 
cousin." 

Perry  felt  rather  guilty  at  accepting  further  hos- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  65 

I 

pitality  on  the  score   of   Mr.  William   Chatterton's 

friendly  and  amiable  intentions  toward  his  cousin, 
but  insistance  seemed  useless,  and  he  yielded. 

Whatever  opinion  he  may  have  held  as  to  the  rea- 
sonableness and  common  sense  of  most  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  house  of  Chester,  he  did  them  the  justice 
to  remember  they  could  not  be  expected  to  know  that 
his  instructions  were  limited,  and  that  they  might 
naturally  suppose  that  the  mere  fact  of  his  presence 
argued  some  fear  of  their  intrenched  position.  As  to 
Chatterton,  he  made  no  mental  qualification  ;  he  un- 
reservedly admired  the  stand  she  had  taken.  His  ad- 
miration, however,  was  not  unmixed  with  surprise,  for 
he  had  not  expected  such  common  sense  from  a  young 
lady  who  had  on  several  occasions  during  their  short 
acquaintance  shown  evidence  of  deep-rooted  prejudice. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  discussion  was  not  resumed  on  the  morrow. 
Mrs.  Chester  was  reported  ill.  The  indisposition — 
real  or  imaginary — continued  for  six  days.  Of  course, 
there  was  no  appeal,  and  Perry  willingly  enough,  since 
the  delay  was  not  caused  by  fault  of  his,  abandoned 
himself  to  the  lazy,  shiftless  life  of  the  inmates  of 
Chatterton.  He  did  not,  however,  reach  their  stand- 
ard ;  he  was  a  novice,  and  had  all  the  consequent  awk- 
wardness. Theirs  was  the  genuine  article — bred  in  the 
bone.  Their  idling  had  been  reduced  to  a  science. 
5 


66  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

The  General  worked,  it  is  true,  but  not  systemati- 
cally ;  it  was  quite  evident  that  it  was  but  play  after 
all. 

Perry  passed  most  of  the  time  with  the  young  peo- 
ple ;  some  of  it,  however,  was  devoted  to  the  labora- 
tory, the  General,  and  the  "  Destroyer."  He  was 
amused  at  Leigh's  manner  toward  him.  The  young 
man  was  in  high  dudgeon,  and  treated  him  with  over- 
done ceremony.  In  a  day  or  two  he  tired  of  this,  and 
beamed  upon  him  as  at  the  beginning.  Then  a  new 
grievance  intervened,  and  Perry  was  again  in  disgrace. 
This  time  it  was  because  of  Chatterton,  and  the  sen- 
timent on  Leigh's  part  was  if  not  more  reasonable 
at  least  more  natural  than  his  former  anger. 

It  was  curious  to  observe  Perry's  treatment  of  the 
young  fellow.  It  reminded  Chatterfcon — quick  at  such 
comparison — of  some  honest  mastiff,  his  ears  cocked 
forward  in  absorbed  astonishment,  turning  over  a 
grasshopper  with  huge  but  kindly  velvet  paw. 

Chatterton  had  soon  forgotten  her  mortification. 
There  is  something  soothing  in  the  consciousness  of 
being  appreciated,  and  she  had  reached  this  conscious- 
ness through  the  free-masonry  of  kindred  natures. 

She  was  totally  unlike  Felix  in  most  respects,  and 
yet  they  were  in  sympathy  ;  they  thought  on  the  same 
moral  plane. 

Though  Felix  found  little  to  approve  in  the  per- 
sonnel of  his  present  surroundings,  he  was  fascinated. 
Personal  responsibility  was  his  creed,  and  behold  him 
in  the  midst  of  people  who  shed  personal  responsibil- 
ity as  a  dtfck-'s  back  sheds  water  !  He  ceased,  at  last, 
moralizing  about  it,  and  there  was  only  left  the  under- 
current of  astonishment  that  these  human  beings  did 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  67 

BO  well  without  that  which  he  had  always  considered 
the  first  requisite  for  orderly  and  right  living. 

He  had  given  up  surmises  as  to  the  relationship  of 
Rose  Hetherinton,  Reggy,  and  the  Chesters.  To  be 
sure,  Bud  called  the  General  and  Mrs.  Chester  re- 
spectively/'Uncle"  and  "Aunt,"  but  when  Felix  re- 
marked upon  the  total  absence  of  family  likeness, 
she  rather  sadly  told  him  there  was  no  blood  rela- 
tionship. 

As  to  Reggy,  he  was  genealogically  as  great  a  mys- . 
tery  as  Melchizedec.  The  child  himself  gave  no  clew, 
as  he  seldom  called  the  same  person  twice  by  the  same 
name.  Besides  which,  Felix  had  discovered  that  there 
was  no  relevancy  in  the  Chatterton  soubriquets  ;  that 
in  a  true  spirit  of  reciprocity,  each  of  the  household 
had  regard  for  the  vagaries  of  the  others  in  matters 
of  nomenclature. 

On  the  last  of  these  six  arcadian  days,  Chatterton 
and  Perry  walked  down  to  the  brookside  and  seated 
themselves  in  'a  bower  where  the  sun's  tempered  rays 
reached  them  filtered  through  a  thousand  interstices. 
Atherton  had  seen  them  start,  and,  in  impotent  fury, 
had  «addled  his  horse  and  dashed  past  them  ostenta- 
tiously. 

This  was  the  first  occasion  on  which  they  had  been 
alone  together.  He  soon  discovered  that  she  was  less 
reserved  than  he  had  thought.  The  truth  was,  if  he 
had  but  known  it — if  she  had  known  it  herself — that 
her  sense  of  implication  in  the  various  peculiarities  of 
the  members  of  the  Chatterton  household  trammeled 
her  free  thought  and  its  free  expression. 

"  This  is  my  favorite  spot,  Mr.  Perry.  Here  tur- 
moil and  disappointment  seem  mellowed  by  distance. 


68  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

To  be  sure,  the  relief  is  but  temporary  and  the  reac- 
tion certain." 

"  I  am  not  quite  prepared  to  admit  the  certainty," 
he  said. 

"No  doubt  it  is  a  question  of  temperament.  You 
are  fortunate  if  yours  is  a  hopeful  one.  My  views  are 
consistently  gloomy." 

"I  should  not  call  it  consistency." 

"  Obstinacy  ?  " 

"  Not  at  all.  I  mean  that  one  is  apt  to  jump  to 
premature  conclusions  as  to  their  psychological  make- 
up. It  takes  many  years  and  much  experience  to 
qualify  one  to  draw  true  inferences." 

"  Then  you  think  I  might  possibly  wrest  the  secret 
of  happiness  from  the  Fates  if  I  struggled  through  the 
best  years  of  life  only  to  attain  it  when  too  late  to  en- 
joy it  ?  What  a  cheerful,  Tantalus  test  of  life  !" 

But  he  did  not  laugh.  "I  am  quite  persuaded 
that  happiness  lies  not  so  much  at  the  end  as  all  along 
the  line  of  honest  effort  to  attain  it." 

She  was  silent  for  a  moment,  and  then,  thought- 
fully :  "Yes,  there  maybe  compensation  in  the  mere 
effort.  Still,"  with  a  return  of  pessimism,  "it»can 
not  be  but  the  fitful,  unsatisfying  pleasure  of  antici- 
pation." 

"May  not  the  effort  be  the  substance,  and  the 
ideal  happiness  the  shadow  ?  " 

"  Then  life  is  but  a  huge  practical  joke,  with  the 
gods  for  its  perpetrators  ! " 

"At  least  we  may  share  the  laughter  with 
them." 

She  did  not  answer ;  the  habitual  look  of  discon- 
tent deepened.  She  rather  liked  to  hurl  little  pessi- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  69 

« 

mistic  darts  at  fate,  and  was  unaccustomed  to  have 
them  turned  aside  by  the  interposed  shield  of  optimism. 
She  had  formulated  into  a  creed  her  discontent  with 
life,  and  thought  its  gloomy  tenets  epitomized  the  ex- 
perience of  all  human  beings  whose  aspirations  lifted 
them  above  the  mere  ordinary  standards  of  humanity. 
Her  inexperience,  her  prejudice,  persuaded  her  that 
Virginia  was  a  fair  though  slightly  rusted  sample  of 
what  is  most  civilized,  and  she  drew  therefrom  the 
not  unnatural  conclusion  that  life  was  a  failure. 

There  had  been  a  pause.  Felix  was  digging  his 
cane  into  a  mossy  mound,  Chatterton  was  looking 
away  from  him.  Finally  he  said  :  "  Will  you  excuse 
me  if  I  express  the  opinion  that  much  of  dissatisfac- 
tion with  life  comes  from  the  supposed  unprofitable- 
ness of  our  failures  ?  " 

She  glanced  up  quickly,  an  angry  light  in  her  eyes. 
He  was  not  looking  at  her,  being  still  intent  upon  up- 
rooting the  moss.  Receiving  no  answer,  he  continued  : 
"  I  have  often  found  that  what  at  first  appeared  un- 
mitigated evil  turned  out  eventually  to  have  been  a 
blessing  in  disguise." 

"  Quite  in  the  vein  of  the  moral  mottoes  one  has 
struggled  with  in  one's  youth !  It  argues  a  good 
memory  and  the  gift  of  application." 

Perry  looked  up,  smiling.  "  It  does  sound  rather 
pedantic,"  he  said  ;  "still,  the  conclusion  is  justified 
by  my  personal  experience." 

"It  must  be  a  comfortable  faith,  and  prepares  one 
not  unpleasantly  for  either  fortune."  She  was  pro- 
voked at  his  composure. 

"  One  needs  some  such  philosophy  to  compensate 
for  disappointments,"  responded  Felix. 


70  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

She  smiled  sarcastically  :  "  Are  not  you  abandon- 
ing your  plane  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not  when  I  advocate  extracting  the 
greatest  possible  pleasure  from  even  unpromising  con- 
ditions." 

"I  should  prefer  to  extract  the  pain." 

He  laughed.  "  Our  respective  ways  of  putting  it 
argue  opposite  standpoints. " 

"I  have  selected  mine  after  considerable  experi- 
ence." 

"  Mine  has  been  forced  upon  me.  Pardon  me  if 
I  add  that  experience,  like  learning,  may  be  a  danger- 
ous guide  if  limited." 

She  was  accustomed  to  only  the  most  flattering  al- 
lusions to  herself,  her  arguments,  and  her  conclusions, 
and  for  this  man  in  his  cool,  self-possessed  manner  to 
doubt  the  correctness  of  her  premises  would  have 
highly  offended  her  but  for  the  fact  that  she 
was  undergoing  a  new  sensation ;  the  audacity 
attracted  her.  Still  she  must  assert  herself  :  "  That 
conclusion  must  itself  have  been  the  result  of  heroic 
treatment.  It  might  have  been  kill  instead  of 
cure." 

He  ignored  the  sarcasm  as  he  answered  : 

"You  are  right.  It  was,  indeed,  for  a  time  ex- 
tremely doubtful  which  it  would  be." 

Of  course  he  referred  to  some  love-affair  ;  she  was 
at  once  interested.  Still,  she  did  not  wish  to  show 
curiosity. 

"If  it  requires  the  Juggernaut  to  qualify  the 
saint  I  prefer  to  remain  uncanonized." 

But  he  was  too  much  in  earnest  to  be  turned  aside 
by  this  conceit.  "  Now  that  it  is  well  over,  and  I 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  71 

have  learned  its  lesson,  I'do  not  regret  that  I  had  the 
experience." 

"Did  you  lose  some  interesting  case-^-a  breach  of 
promise  of  marriage,  for  instance  ?  "  It  was  no  sooner 
said  than  she  hated  herself  for  saying  it. 

"Not  professionally.  I  had  a  good  case,  how- 
ever, as  principal,  had  I  chosen  to  prosecute,"  he  said, 
gravely. 

He  certainly  did  not  wear  his  heart  upon  his  sleeve  ; 
on  the  contrary,  he  was  the  last  man  in  the  world  to 
have  curried  favor  by  an  appeal  to  sympathy.  And 
yet  he  proposed  telling  this  girl  the  one  romance  of 
his  life  !  His  reasons  were  two-fold  :  he  felt  that  she 
needed  lifting  away  from  herself — needed  a  glimpse 
deep  down  through  the  vast  ocean  of  passion  to  the 
wreck-strewed  bottom.  It  would  be  a  healthy  lesson — 
she  would  realize  that  she  had  been  pouting  over 
broken  dolls  while  the  .great  heart  of  humanity  was 
mourning  over  shattered  idols.  And  then — well,  the 
other  reason  was  that  there  came  to  him  an  almost 
irresistible  impulse  to  open  the  door  of  the  past.  We 
have  all  had  such  impulses — those  of  us  who  are  as 
self-reliant  as  he,  as  well  as  those  of  us  who  are  weak 
and  dependent.  It  is  not  merely  a  craving  for  sym- 
pathy, it  is  a  keen  desire  to  be  thoroughly  known  by  a 
certain  person,  blindly  selected  ;  the  selection  is  no 
syllogism  mind  you,  but  an  inspiration. 

She  sat  still,  ablaze  with  scarlet  discomfiture. 
Then — "Come,"^he  said,  hurriedly  rising,  "it  must 
be  luncheon-time,"  and  they  walked  back  toward  the 
house. 

As  they  crossed  the  porch — instinctively  avoiding 
the  still  unrepaired  hole  in  the  floor — Perry  said  : 


72  -A.    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

"If  you  will  allow  me,  Miss  Chester,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  prove  to  you  that  I  did  not  merely  generalize 
when  I  asserted  the  benefit  of  even  an  unhappy  ex- 
perience in  forming  character." 

"  To-night,  if  you  like,  you  may." 

She  wondered  at  herself.  She,  Chatterton,  had 
shown  marked  curiosity  to  know  this  man's  story,  and 
had  actually  appointed  a  time  to  hear  it !  She  did 
not,  though,  tell  herself  she  was  sorry,  being  too 
honest  for  self-deception. 

Dinner  at  Chatterton  was  not  a  fixed,  immovable 
feast,  nor  was  it  limited  to  one  appellation.  Like  the 
moon  to  the  ancients,  it  changed  its  name  with  every 
phase.  If  it  was  ready  before  two  o'clock  it  was 
"luncheon";  if  before  seven,  it  was  "dinner";  if 
later,  "supper."  On  this  especial  day  it  was  in  its 
last  quarter,  but,  as  by  the  diurnal  almanac  it  had 
been  expected  to  rise  earlier,  no  provision  had  been 
made  for  a  substantial  substitute.  However,  when  it 
did  come  the  household  were  all  the  hungrier,  and 
that  was  something,  as  the  General  philosophized. 
Mrs.  Chester  was  of  course  not  present.  The  General 
was  more  than  usually  agreeable;  though,  as  a  con- 
cession to  his  wife's  absence,  in  a  decorous,  rather 
deprecatory  way,  much  as  one  looks  demure  on  going 
into  gay  company  in  half -mourning.  His  chivalry 
was  part  of  his  soul,  and  never  failed  to  manifest 
itself  when  due,  or  when  he  thought  it  was  due,  which 
amounted  to  the  same  thing. 

Atherton  had  returned,  and  sat  moody  and  silent, 
the  very  picture  of  a  spoiled  child.  His  face  was 
flushed,  his  forehead  corrugated;  Perry  was  the  only 
one  to  notice  his  silence;  the  others  were  too  accus- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  73 

I 

tomed  to  his  vagaries  to  be  surprised  at  any  mere 
moodiness. 

After  supper  Perry  escaped  to  his  room.  He  felt 
it  his  duty  to  write  to  his  client  and  report  the  seem- 
ingly endless  delays  of  Mrs.  Chester's  valetudinarian 
diplomacy.  He  placed  the  letter  in  his  pocket,  and 
was  about  descending  the  stairs  when  his  attention 
was  arrested  by  the  droning  of  a  song.  Looking  down, 
he  saw  Dandy  slowly  mounting  to  the  second  floor 
with  the  child  Reggy  asleep  on  his  shoulder,  soothed 
by  the  lullaby.  Stepping  to  one  side  to  let  Felix  pass, 
the  darky  whispered,  not  losing  the  cadence  of  the 
air,  "  Mars'  Reg,  he  done  gone  'sleep,"  and  then  con- 
tinued his  way  up,  singing  "De  Golden  Stairs." 

The  little  scene  vividly  impressed  Felix — not 
usually  prone  to  such  fancies — with  its  appropriate- 
ness. The  absurdity  of  the  words  disappeared  in  the 
pathos  of  the  suggestion,  for  the  faithful  Dandy 
seemed  to  typify  the  sentiment,  and  to  be  indeed 
"  clim'in'  de  golden  stairs  "  on  the  treads  of  unselfish- 
ness and  love. 

At  the  lower  landing  he  found  Bud  looking  up  at 
Dandy  and  his  load. 

"  A  faithful  creature,  Miss  Hetherinton." 

"Ah,  yes,"  she  answered,  "dear  Dandy  is  very 
good  to  my  little  brother." 

Her  brother  !  Felix  said  nothing,  yet  he  was  more 
surprised  than  the  circumstance  seemed  to  warrant. 
Somehow,  he  had  never  thought  of  these  two  as  being 
nearly  related.  The  discovery  tended  rather  to  deepen 
than  to  diminish  the  mystery  of  this  extraordinary 
household. 

The  parlor  was  vacant.    From  the  windows  to  the 


74  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

rear,  Perry  saw  lights  in  the  laboratory,  and  concluded 
that  the  General  was  busy  at  his  negative  annihilator. 

Bud  had  not  entered  the  room,  but  had  gone,  he 
surmised,  to  self-immolation  on  that  pyre  of  selfish- 
ness, Mrs.  Chester.  But  where  was  Chatterton  ? 

Suddenly  he  heard  the  faint  murmur  of  voices 
through  the  open  window  from  the  front  porch. 
While  he  hesitated  whether  or  not  to  announce  his 
presence  he  was  startled  by  hearing  Atherton's  voice 
raised  to  an  excited  pitch,  ever  gathering  force  till  it 
culminated  in  an  oath,  coupled  with  his — Perry's — 
name.  Then  there  came  a  crash,  as  if  a  chair  had 
been  dashed  to  the  floor,  hurried  footsteps,  and  then 
silence. 

Felix  impulsively  crossed  the  room  to  the  open 
window. 

There,  out  in  the  moonlight,  stood  Chatterton. 
As  her  back  was  turned,  he  was  enabled  to  retire 
unseen. 

In  the  hall  he  paused  ;  should  he  go  to  the  porch 
or  to  his  room  ?  A  sudden  fear  decided  the  question. 
The  girl  might  be  in  some  actual  bodily  danger  from 
this  wild,  undisciplined  lover  of  hers.  Who  could 
predicate  the  bounds  of  his  ungoverned  fury  ? 

As  he  opened  the  front  door  he  met  Chatterton 
face  to  face.  She  stood,  pale  and  excited,  supporting 
herself  with  one  hand  on  the  door-frame. 

Pretending  not  to  notice  her  agitation,  Felix  said : 
"  I  was  looking  for  you.  Surely  you  are  not  leaving 
the  moonlight,  Miss  Chester?  On  such  a  night  it 
would  be  a  sin  to  go  in-doors.  '  On  such  a  night '  a 
lot  of  mythological  and  historical  things  happened, 
according  to  Lorenzo  and  Jessica.  See,  the  moon 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  75 

invites  us  by  its  rays.  Will  not  you  tax  your  patience 
and  let  me  tell  you  of  the  one  severe  lesson  of  which 
I  spoke  this  afternoon  ?  I  am  quite  eager  for  the  con- 
fession, and  shall  be  disappointed  if  you  show  no 
interest." 

He  was  running  on  so  as  to  give  her  time  to  re- 
gain her  composure. 

Without  a  word  she  turned  and  followed  him  to 
the  far  end  of  the  porch,  where,  in  a  cosy  nook,  a 
rather  rickety  bench  was  half  hidden  by  a  luxuriant 
"Virginia  creeper." 

As  they  seated  themselves,  Felix  caugHt  his  com- 
panion's gaze  fixed  on  him.  She  was  in  the  bright 
moonlight,  and  he  could  plainly  see  an  expression  of 
grateful  recognition  on  her  face. 

"  And  now  for  my  story.  I  went  to  Harvard,  and, 
on  graduating  there,  took  the  course  at  the  law-school, 
and  then  practiced  for  some  years  in  Boston.  It  was 
then  that  I  met  and  loved  a  girl  of  my  own  age.  I 
loved  her  dearly,  and  she — well,  she  said  she  loved 
me,  and  we  became  engaged.  After  all,  my  little 
romance  is  very  commonplace.  Thousands  of  men 
are  jilted  every  year,  and  they  mostly  recover.  You 
see  I  trusted  her  implicitly.  I  was  more  sentimental 
than  my  rough  exterior  would  suggest,  and  it  went 
rather  hard  with  me.  I  must  have  bored  her  dread- 
fully, but  I  was  very  sincere.  Within  two  weeks  of 
the  time  we  were  to  have  been  married  she  ran  away 
with  another  man,  whom  she  had  known  but  a  few 
days." 

Chatterton  was  still  gazing  at  him  when  he  again 
looked  up ;  her  expression  had  changed ;  she  was 
absorbed  in  his  recital  and  had  evidently  forgotten  her 


76  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

mortification.  Marvelous  to  relate,  there  was  not  a 
irace  of  that  cloud  which  had  hitherto  marred  her 
face  ;  it  seemed  as  if  some  heavenly  hand  must  have 
touched  the  brooding  mist  of  discontent  and  have 
wafted  it  away. 

He  was  at  a  loss  to  understand  the  transformation. 
Mere  interest  or  curiosity  could  not  account  for  it. 
How  could  he  know  that  this  proud,  self-willed, 
prejudiced  woman  was  undergoing  a  new  sensation  ? 
She  was  learning  to  look  up  to  rather  than  down  upon 
a  man  of  her  own  generation.  Besides,  Perry  had 
earned  her  gratitude,  for  he  had  spared  her  an  expla- 
nation of  the  scene  he  must  have  at  least  partly  wit- 
nessed— his  very  industry  in  occupying  her  in  other 
matters  to  save  her  such  reference,  proved  this. 

Felix  had  gone  on  with  his  narrative  ;  had  moral- 
ized over  it,  had  averred  that  he  had  been  benefited 
by  it,  that  it  had  been,  in  fact,  his  "tutelary  experi- 
ence," as  he  called  it.  Then  for  the  first  time  she 
spoke : 

"  Was  she  handsome  ?  " 

He  smiled  to  .himself.  "After  all,"  he  thought, 
"  they  are  all  strangely  alike  in  some  things."  How- 
ever, he  merely  answered  in  the  affirmative. 

"  What  did  you  do  when  you  learned  of  her  faith- 
lessness ?  "  she  asked. 

"  How  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Did  you  follow  them  ?  " 

"What !  I  ?    No  indeed  !  why  should  I  ?" 

"  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know.  The  men  here  would 
have  thought  their  honor  demanded  revenge." 

"  What  was  he  to  me  ?  Had  not  she  done  herself 
enough  harm  without  the  disgrace  of  publicity  ?  I 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  ?7 

thougfit  very  little  about  him.  I  was  occupied  with 
her  transgression,  and  overwhelmed  with  the  blow. 
Still,  I  did  not  wish  her  harm ;  she  was  dead  to  my 
heart.  What  I  chiefly  brooded  over  was  my  former 
infatuation.  I  was  filled  with  consternation  at  my 
blindness  ;  I  had  been  living  in  a  fool's  paradise,  and 
had  thought  it  heaven  !  I  did  not  think  of,  did  not 
desire  revenge ;  and  yet  it  espoused  my  cause,  unso- 
licited ;  she  died  within  a  year." 

Chatterton  sat  immovable.  After  a  long  pause, 
she  said  : 

"  You  were  right.  Personal  experience  is  the  true 
guide.  How  immature  you  must  have  thought  my 
arguments  this  morning  ! " 

"  Oh  no,  I  assure  you.  It  would  have  been  dis- 
tressing to  have  found  you  too  *  sadly  wise.'  And 
yet,  do  you  know,  there  is  something  touching  in  in- 
experience :  what  is  to  be  its  fate  ?  Is  it  to  be  chas- 
tened merely,  or  broken  on  the  wheel  ?  " 

"  You  draw  a  gloomy  picture  ?  " 

"  No,  I  think  not.  There  is  no  Canaan  without 
first  the  Eed  Sea ;  after  that  is  the  Promised  Land  of 
happiness." 

"Or  death  in  the  wilderness." 

"  I  admit  it  is  somewhat  a  question  of  endurance." 

There  was  another  pause.  Outside  on  the  lawn 
some  little  voicef  ul  thing  of  summer  was  holding  tiny 
carnival,  but  was  presently  still  again.  Perry  was 
conscious  of  a  sudden  lifting  of  the  veil  from  self : 
might  not  it  be  that  he  was  standing  on  his  Pisgah  ? 

Later,  in  his  room,  Perry  sat  long  at  the  open  win- 
dow, loath  to  shut  out  the  moonlight  and  the  scented 
night.  Now  and  then  a  little  whispering  breeze  would 


78  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

stir  into  gentle  activity  the  huge,  umbrageous  chest- 
nut which  stood  immediately  in  front  of  the  entrance- 
door,  its  wide-spreading  branches  reaching  protect- 
ingly  over  the  porch-roof  almost  to  where  he  sat 
watching  the  moon-shadows,  cast  by  its  thousands 
of  leaves,  dance  hither  and  thither  on  the  shingles. 
Then  the  breeze  would  die  away,  and  the  silence 
seem  throbbing,  it  was  so  intense. 

The  incidents  of  his  past  life  came  trooping  be- 
fore him  :  long-forgotten  incidents,  some  trivial  some 
pathetic  ;  friends,  dead  or  passed  out  of  his  life. 
He  recalled  his  first  love  and  Barbara — Barbara  and 
her  broken  promises ;  till  by  natural  gradations  his 
thoughts  carried  him  down  to  the  present  moment, 
and  Chatterton.  And  then  he  launched  forth  on  the 
boundless  sea  of  speculation  till  even  its  untrammeled 
fancies  were  not  free  enough,  and  he  was  swept  into 
the  fantastic  realm  of  dreams. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

WITH  the  discipline  of  a  trained  mind,  Felix  forced 
himself  to  concentrate  his  thoughts  on  his  mission  on 
the  morning  after  the  events  last  related.  He  de- 
scended to  the  dining-room  rather  earlier  than  on 
the  previous  days,  and  stood  by  the  window  inhaling 
the  sweet  summer  odors  while  he  awaited  the  appear- 
ing of  some  one  to  join  him  at  breakfast. 

The  first  to  descend  to  the  morning  meal  at  Chat- 
terton had  the  element  of  uncertainty  to  enliven  the 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  79 

interval  of  waiting.  Any  one  member  of  the  family 
might  appear  at  a  moment's  notice  or  none  appear  at 
all.  Breakfast  might  come  or  breakfast  might  linger, 
according  to  Dandy's  idea  as  to  the  preponderance  of 
authority  in  the  contradictory  and  varying  orders  he 
received.  On  this  especial  morning  nothing  usual 
happened.  In  fact,  there  was  no  "  usual "  at  Chatter- 
ton,  except  Dandy's  faithfulness.  Dandy  was  to  this 
household  what  gravitation  is  to  the  globe,  holding 
loose  particles  to  the  concrete ;  remove  him,  and 
centrifugal  force  would  hurl  the  particles  into  space. 

After  a  little,  Dandy  appeared,  bringing  a  message 
from  Bud  for  Perry  not  to  wait,  but  to  take  hia 
breakfast. 

There  had  been  no  mail  delivered  at  the  place  for 
forty-eight  hours.  The  butcher  usually  brought  the 
letters — when  he  remembered  to  do  it — from  the 
court-house ;  but  it  now  appeared  that  there  was  a 
"horse-race  down  in  Prince  William,"  and  the 
butcher's  cob  had  been  entered,  the  butcher,  of 
course,  being  on  the  ground  to  see  fair  play.  Perry 
had  been  anxious  to  get  his  letters,  but  no  one  had 
thought  of  sending  for  the  mail,  and  he  had  to 
wait. 

The  day  before,  the  General  had  sent  to  a  far-off 
village  for  some  chemicals,  and  Felix,  who  had  inci- 
dentally heard  that  at  this  village  was  situated  the 
only  telegraph  station  in  the  vicinity,  sent  by  the 
messenger  a  telegram  to  his  firm.  The  General  had 
forcibly  impressed  upon  the  sable  Mercury  that  he 
was  to  await  an  answer,  "if  it  takes  a  week,  boy,  do 
you  understand?"  Late  in  the  day  the  boy  had 
returned  not  only  with  no  answer  to  Perry's  telegram, 


80  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

but  bringing  back  the  one  he  had  himself  written, 
with  the  explanation  that  "  de  telegraf  man  done  gone 
fishun',  an'  der  ain't  no  one  thar  knows  when  he'll  git 
back." 

But  now,  to  his  relief,  Felix  found  three  letters  on 
his  plate,  Dandy  providing  the  information  that  they 
had  been  kindly  forwarded,  by  the  court-house  post- 
master, by  the  hand  of  a  peddler — a  stranger  who  had 
expressed  the  intention  of  stopping  at  Chatterton. 

Perry  recognized  Mrs.  Denvers's  bold,  free  hand- 
writing on  one  of  the  envelopes,  but  put  it  to  one 
side,  and  conscientiously  devoted  himself  first  to 
business.  There  was  no  important  news  from  the 
firm,  saving  that — "  You  need  not  hurry  to  return  ; 
on  the  contrary,  take  plenty  of  time.  Mr.  William 
Chatterton  called  yesterday  and  consulted  us  in  regard 
to  an  important  insurance  case" — here  followed  par- 
ticulars— "and  the  upshot  is  that  we  are  retained  in 
his  interest.  He  seems  most  anxious  that  you  should 
not  leave  your  present  quarters  till  you  are  successful 
in  your  business,  or  persuaded  that  success  is  hopeless. 
Our  advice,  therefore,  is  that  you  humor  him.  He 
said  he  was  charmed  with  your  novel  introduction  to 
his  relatives  and  to  his  ancestral  estate."  Perry  laid 
this  letter  down  with  a  gesture  of  disapproval,  and 
took  up  another.  It  was  from  Mr.  Chatterton  him- 
self, reiterating  what  Dodruff  and  Pringle  had  written, 
only  conveying  what  he  had  to  say  in  the  form  of 
inverted  sentences  and  tortured  rhetoric. 

Having  disposed  of  his  other  correspondence,  Felix 
now  turned  his  attention  to  Mrs.  Denvers's  letter, 
breaking  the  delicately  crested  seal.  It  ran  as 
follows: 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  81 

"  NEW  YORK,  Monday. 

"According  to  the  usage  of  civilized  nations,  my 
dear  Mr.  Perry,  you  should  have  been  the  one  to 
write  first;  but  I  take  pity  on  you  in  your  banishment, 
and  reverse  the  order." — Perry  gazed  thoughtfully  at 
the  tea-urn.  How  strange  to  see  a  little  vignette  of 
the  great,  outside  world  from  this  lotus  grove!  Of 
course  the  letter  was  most  acceptable,  but  this  did  not 
mitigate  the  strangeness.  The  busy  haunts  of  men 
seemed  so  far,  far  away  ;  how  long  ago  he  seemed  to 
have  left  them  ! — "However,  lest  I  make  myself  out 
more  amiable  than  I  really  am,  I  have  to  confess  to  an- 
other motive  ;  it  is  to  ask  you  to  *  Desiderio '  in  July. 
"Will  about  the  4th  suit  you?  To  be  sure,  Newport  will 
not  be  very  gay  so  early,  but  you  are  a  charming  guest 
for  the  off  season  ;  never  in  the  way,  and  always  quite 
able  to  take  care  of  yourself;  characteristics  not  so 
common  in  the  nineteenth  century  bachelor  as  the 
uninitiated  may  suppose.  Do  not  say  no ;  at  least, 
think  it  over  for  a  week  before  you  decide.  Let  me 
see  if  I  can  not  find  some  gossip  to  remind  you  that 
the  gay  world  moves  while  you  are  dreaming  away 
your  days  in  Acadie.  Your  Mrs.  Dare  seems  to  be 
faring  well,  notwithstanding  my  sinister  prediction. 
She  is  quite  generally  invited  out,  although  a  formida- 
ble boycott  has  been  declared  against  her  by  certain 
exclusive  women  who  are  continually  fearing  contami- 
nation. Mr.  Clyde  told  me — at  Mrs.  Underdunk's 
race-dinner,  last  Saturday,  where  he  took  me  in — 
that  'Ariadne  Dare,'  as  he  called  her,  was  certainly 
'great  fun.'  She  must  have  made  an  impression  upon 
him,  or  he  would  not  have  remembered  her  name. 
By  the  way,  you  did  not  tell  me  it  was  anything  so 
6 


82  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

romantic  as  'Ariadne.'  He  added  that  she  had 
attracted  the  attention  of  rich  old  Mr.  Bramble,  and 
that  at  the  club  the  betting  is  two  to  one  that  *  she 
will  hook  him.'  I  remembered  the  exact  slang,  so  as 
to  run  no  danger  of  mistake  in  transmitting  it.  I 
wonder  if  I  am  refreshingly  unsophisticated  in  telling 
you  all  this  ?  May  not  you  have  already  had  it  first 
hand  ?  Mr.  Denvers  tells  me  that  the  Polliyer  Joneses 
go  to  Newport  to-morrow.  Mr.  Polliver,  however, 
sails  for  Europe  as  soon  as  the  season  fairly  opens. 
Denvers  tells  me  this  with  a  certain  air,  which  evi- 
dently means  that  he  recognizes  the  finger  of  Mrs. 
Polliver  in  this  arrangement.  I  am  rather  ashamed 
of  the  uncharitableness  of  that  last  sentence,  but  can 
not  rewrite  the  whole  page  to  be  rid  of  it.  The  great 
Chatterton  dined  with  us  last  night.  He  entertained 
me  with  a  flowery  account  of  your  assault  upon  his 
patriarchal  home.  He  also  spoke  of  a  girl — whether 
eighteen  or  twenty-eight  I  did  not  gather — who,  at 
thirteen,  when  he  last  saw  her,  was  all  eyes  and  limbs. 
It  seems  she  had  a  will  of  her  own  and  an  ugly  tem- 
per. The  'all  eyes'  sounds  attractive.  Have  you 
seen  much  of  her  ;  are  you  madly  in  love?  Somehow, 
I  feel  as  if  a  symmetrical  Providence  should  give  you 
a  wife  with  an  uncertain  temper.  She  would  not 
seriously  affect  your  happiness,  and  you  might  find 
your  mission  in  seeking  to  impart  some  of  your  equa- 
bility. It  is  said  that  middle-aged  married  women — 
I  know  you  will  deprecate  the  'middle-aged,'  else 
I  would  not  use  it — are  all  match-makers  at  heart ; 
this  may  account  for  my  interest  in  the  large-eyed 
and  large-tempered  girl.  To  be  honest,  no ;  the  in- 
terest all  centers  in  you.  Have  not  I  written  you  a 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  83 

long  letter  ?    A  high  compliment  from  one  usually 
concise  to  the  verge  of  laconism. 

"  Very  faithfully  yours, 

"DOHA  DE:NTERS." 

Perry  read  this  letter  twice.  The  old  feeling  of 
restfulness — without  which  he  never  saw,  heard,  or 
thought  of  Mrs.  Denvers — had  come  over  him  on  pe- 
rusing the  friendly  lines.  Life  seemed  less  hard,  hu- 
man nature  less  uncharitable,  the  world  at  large  less 
cynical  when  he  was  under  her  influence.  For  the 
hundredth  time  he  assured  himself  that  he  was  indeed 
fortunate  in  this  sympathetic  and  harmonious  friend- 
ship. Suddenly,  with  a  guilty  feeling  creeping  over 
him,  he  asked  himself  how  often  he  had  in  thought 
turned  to  this  good  friend  during  the  last  few  days  ? 
Had  he  thought  of  her  at  all  ?  What  was  the  reason 
for  this  ?  His  was  not  the  nature  to  allow  an  unusual 
mood  to  pass  unquestioned,  and  on  this  occasion  he 
challenged  his  consciousness  so  directly  that  he  com- 
pelled an  answer — Chatterton  Chester. 

From  the  absorption  of  these  thoughts  he  was 
recalled  to  his  immediate  surroundings  by  the  en- 
trance of  Rose  Hetherinton.  Hardly  waiting  to 
answer  his  morning  greeting,  she  said  :  "Aunt  Mary 
wishes  to  know  at  what  time  it  will  be  convenient  for 
you  to  go  to  her  study  ?  " 

"At  this  moment  if  it  will  suit  her  convenience  to 
see  me  so  early." 

Bud's  only  answer  was  to  precede  him  through  the 
door.  She  seemed  under  the  influence  of  some  excite- 
ment. Perry  wondered  what  was  now  in  store  for 
him,  at  the  same  time  bracing  himself  against  almost 


84:  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

any  surprise.  He  had  already  learned  that  the  un- 
expected was  always  happening  in  this  household,  and 
now  felt  his  blood  not  disagreeably  stirred  by  the  con- 
templation of  the  possibilities  of  the  situation. 

If  Bud's  manner  impressed  Perry  as  strange,  Mrs. 
Chester's  certainly  was  remarkable.  There  was  an 
elation,  an  evidence  of  powerful  excitement  about  her 
which  had  temporarily  banished  all  thought  of  the  role 
of  malade  imaginaire.  She  sat  on  her  divan,  erect 
and  eager.  Perry  took  his  cue  from  the  forgetf ulness, 
and  forbore  asking  about  her  health,  as  he  made  his 
salutation.  He  was  only  too  glad  to  have  invalidism 
banished  from  what  promised  to  be  a  stirring  debate. 
In  the  former  session,  to  argue  a  point  with  a  person 
stretched  at  full  length  on  a  sofa,  and  who  could 
scarcely  open  her  languid  eyes,  had  seemed  brutal  and 
had  been  trying. 

Another  surprise  was  in  store  for  Felix ;  General 
Chester  walked  into  the  room,  and,  after  ceremoni- 
ously greeting  his  guest,  strode  off  to  a  chair  by  the 
fireplace.  He,  too,  was  under  the  pressure  of  excite- 
ment. 

Atherton  was  not  present,  and  Perry  was  not  sorry. 
The  young  fire-eater  rather  amused  him  at  unevent- 
ful moments,  but  was  an  extra  disturbing  element  in 
a  serious  discussion.  Chatterton  occupied  her  former 
position  by  the  window.  Perry  walked  over  to  her, 
and,  with  outstretched  hand  and  a  friendly  smile, 
wished  her  "good -morn ing."  She  glanced  at  him 
quickly,  and  then  lowered  her  eyes  as  she  responded. 

On  taking  his  place  by  the  table,  Felix  had  a  ludi- 
crous inclination  to  constitute  himself  court-crier  and 
to  announce  that  the  docket  of  the  day  would  be  taken 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  85 

up.  Mrs.  Chester  was  sorting  some  manuscript  in  a 
business-like  way,  and  the  silence  was  only  broken  by 
the  rustling  of  the  paper. 

Perry  felt  discouraged.  Was  there  any  possible 
end  to  all  this  foolishness  ?  As  far  as  he  could  tell,  it 
might  go  on  indefinitely.  What  logical  end  could 
there  be  to  a  discussion  which  by  its  very  nature  was 
illogical  ?  Here  he  was,  demanding  that  which  he 
was  expressly  restrained  from  enforcing,  and  opposed 
by  a  refusal  which  he  must,  by  his  instructions,  ig- 
nore. 

Success  was  impossible,  and  the  only  alternative 
an  ignominious  return  to  his  client  with,  "  I  told  you 
BO."  This  was  galling  to  a  nature  that  hated  failure  ; 
none  the  less  galling  because  he  had  himself  predicted 
the  discomfiture. 

"With  your  permission,  Mr.  Perry,  I  will  consult 
my  notes  as  we  proceed."  And  then,  in  a  busi- 
ness-like and  impressive  manner,  Mrs.  Chester  be- 
gan : 

"  An  event  has  occurred  which  gives  an  entirely 
different  aspect  to  our  negotiations." 

Perry  wondered  how  there  could  be  "  negotiations  " 
in  regard  to  that  to  which  the  lady  had  not  the  shad- 
ow of  a  legal  claim  ;  but  he  said  nothing.  Mrs.  Ches- 
ter proceeded  : 

"  Before  I  state  the  nature  of  this  radical  change, 
I  will  ask  you  a  question  :  What  sum  will  your  client 
accept  to  relinquish  his  claim  to  the  estate  of  Chat- 
terton?" 

Perry  readjusted  his  mental  focus  and  brought  it 
to  bear  on  this  new  proposition. 

"  I  am  certainly  not  authorized  to  state  that  Mr. 


86  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

Chatterton  will  take  anything  less  than  the  estate 
itself." 

"In  other  words,  'the  pound  of  flesh  ?'" 

Chatterton  cried  out  impulsively,  "  Oh,  mamma  !  " 
and  turned  her  face  toward  the  window.  The  Gen- 
eral looked  pained.  Perry  did  not  think  he  need  treat 
the  quotation  as  a  question.  Mrs.  Chester  repeated, 
dogmatically  :  "The  pound  of  flesh.  If  Cousin  Will- 
iam refuses  to  sell  the  estate  to  me,  no  gentler  com- 
parison will  be  consonant.  If  he  regards  my  claim 
to  the  place  as  based  on  sentiment  alone  what  will  be 
his  position  if  he  refuse  a  money  equivalent  ?  Which 
of  us  has  the  best  sentimental  right  to  the  acres,  he 
who  up  to  a  year  ago  never  dreamed  of  possessing 
them,  or  I  who  have  been  brought  up  from  infancy 
to  suppose  they  would  in  time  indubitably  be  mine  ?" 

This  certainly  sounded  more  reasonable  than  any- 
thing that  had  gone  before,  all  illogical  as  it  was. 
Still,  Perry  could  not  but  feel  that  the  folly  had  only 
changed  its  base,  and  he  was  prepared  to  face  any  pro- 
posal of  purchase  with  the  front  of  skepticism.  "  Why 
do  not  these  people  leave  business  alone  ?  They  are  so 
charmingly  proficient  in  the  art  of  inconsequential- 
ity,"  he  thought.  Then,  seeing  that  an  answer 
was  expected  :  "My  only  instructions  are,  as  I  have 
said,  to  arrange  for  a  transfer  to  my  client  of  the 
estate  itself.  I  am  to  have  all  reasonable  consideration 
for  your  wishes  as  to  time  and  manner.  You  see  I 
have  no  option." 

The  General  moved  uneasily,  cleared  his  throat, 
and  said  :  "  I  presume  you  will  have  no  objection  to 
transmit  to  Mr.  Chatterton  an  offer  we  may  make  for 
the  place  ?  " 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  87 

"  Of  course  I  am  at  your  disposal.  I  can  take  to 
my  client  whatever  proposition  you  confide  to  me." 

"  Why  not  send  it  by  mail  and  await  the  answer 
here?" 

Felix  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  replied  : 

"  I  will  be  perfectly  frank  with  you,  General  Ches- 
ter. I  came  here  against  my  own  advice.  From  the 
first  I  told  my  client  that  a  lawyer  was  not  needed. 
This  mission,  although  he  will  not  look  at  it  in  that 
light,  is  merely  a  polite  way  of  stating  his  intention 
of  ultimately  entering  into  possession.  Of  course,  I 
am  not  authorized  to  say  what  will  be  his  response  to 
any  offer  you  may  make ;  that  contingency  was  not 
contemplated.  My  mission  is  a  failure  as  far  as  its 
object  is  concerned.  I  have  not  only  gained  nothing 
for  my  client,  but  have  involved  him  in  useless  ex- 
pense. Still,  after  all,  that  is  his  affair ;  he  was  duly 
warned.  Now,  however,  I  can  reconcile  it  no  longer 
to  my  conscience  to  add  to  his  expense,  therefore  I 
must  return.  Allow  me  to  say,  in  conclusion,  that 
personally  I  do  not  regret  the  trip,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, shall  always  look  back  to  my  visit  to  your  hos- 
pitable mansion  as  one  of  the  pleasantest  episodes  of 
my  life." 

Involuntarily  he  glanced  toward  the  window.  Chat- 
terton  had  turned  toward  him.  Her  eyes  did  not 
drop  as  they  met  his,  but  fearlessly  and  freely  gazed 
back  with  a  look  which  unmistakably  meant  approval. 

"  Of  course  you  must  be  the  judge  of  your  duty 
in  the  premises,"  responded  the  General,  in  his  delib- 
erate, sleepy  voice,  "  but  you  must  allow  me  to  differ 
with  your  conclusion  as  to  the  mission.  We  can  all 
bear  witness  that  you  have  lessened  the  chasm  which 


88  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE, 

unfortunately  divides  us  from  Mrs.  Chester's  kinsman. 
Whatever  the  ultimate  outcome  of  these  negotiations 
may  be,  you  can  be  assured  that  your  intervention  has 
made  an  amicable  adjustment  possible.  Tell  Mr. 
Perry,  my  dear,"  turning  to  his  wife,  "  the  terms  we 
are  prepared  to  offer." 

Mrs.  Chester  consulted  her  notes,  and  complied. 
The  offer  amounted  to  this  : 

General  and  Mrs.  Chester  proposed  to  give  Mr. 
William  Chatterton  as  purchase  money  for  the  estate 
of  Chatterton,  a  sum  equal  to  the  assessed  value  of 
the  place  for  taxation.  One  third  was  to  be  paid  in 
one  year,  one  third  in  two  years,  and  one  third  in 
three  years,  with  interest.  These  deferred  payments 
were  to  be  secured  to  Mr.  Chatterton  by  a  lien  on  all 
of  General  Chester's  inventions,  past  and  to  come, 
until  the  whole  amount  of  the  debt  should  be  liqui- 
dated. This  was  the  first  offer.  The  second  was  that 
General  Chester  should  convey  to  Mr.  Chatterton,  in 
exchange  for  the  family  place,  a  one-third  interest  in 
all  past  and  future  inventions.  The  third  proposi- 
tion was  that  if  in  addition  to  a  transfer  to  the  Ches- 
ters  of  the  family  estate,  Mr.  Chatterton  should  fur- 
nish General  Chester  with  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  Mr.  Chatterton  should  receive  in  exchange  a 
one-half  interest  in  all  the  General's  inventions.  The 
option  of  these  offers  was  reserved  to  Mr.  Chatterton. 

Putting  her  notes  carefully  in  her  pocket,  Mrs. 
Chester  supplemented  her  business  address  as  follows  : 
"And  now,  Mr.  Perry,  comes  our  news.  If  yester- 
day we  had  made  these  offers  to  Cousin  William  he 
would  skill  have  had  a  chance  to  become  rich.  To- 
day, however,  our  propositions  have  a  new  weight,  a 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  89 

vastly  added  value.  The  General  has  made  the  great 
discovery  of  his  life,  nay,  I  may  say  of  the  age  !  Its 
success  is  established  beyond  cavil.  For  years  he  has 
had  a  chain  of  ideas  that  needed  but  an  additional 
link  to  make  it  perfect.  Last  night,  while  we  all 
slept,  it  came  to  him  by  inspiration.  He  passed  the 
whole  night  testing  his  invention,  and  it  has  stood  it 
nobly.  Nothing  now  is  needed  but  a  trial  on  a  larger 
scale  and  with  heavy  machinery.  The  principle  is, 
however,  demonstrated  to  his  complete  satisfaction. 
This  invention  is  nothing  less  than  a  new  motor.  Its 
nature  will  be  explained  to  you  before  you  go,  so  that 
you  can  with  more  precision  describe  it  to  Cousin 
William.  In  offering  your  client  an  interest  in  this 
wonderful  discovery  we  are  proposing  to  buy  the  es- 
tate at  a  hundred,  nay,  a  thousand  times  its  intrinsic 
value.  However,  we  are  satisfied  to  make  the  offer, 
for,  when  in  the  near  future,  we  sit  under  the  old 
roof- tree  and  look  out  upon  these  grounds,  flourish- 
ing and  blooming  in  that  luxuriance  which  wealth 
alone  can  bestow,  we  shall  be  proud  to  have  redeemed 
the  ancestral  acres  with  a  king's  ransom,  and  pleased 
to  think  that  my  kinsman  is  enjoying  a  fortune  which 
may  yet  make  him  the  peer  in  wealth  of  the  merchant 
princes,  without  their  sordid  and  debasing  contact 
with  trade."  And  the  chatelaine  fell  back  on  the 
sofa,  exhausted. 

Chatterton  arose,  hurried  over  to  where  her  father 
was  sitting,  and,  sinking  to  the  floor,  clasped  her  hands 
together  on  his  knees. 

"Oh,  papa,  do  pray  take  more  time.  At  least, 
have  your  invention  thoroughly  tested  before  you  as- 
sume such  serious  obligations.  If  the  motor  justifies 


90  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

your  expectation,  think  with,  what  confidence  and  pride 
you  can  dictate  terms  !  Mr.  Perry  has  told  us  Cousin 
William  will  give  us  time  ;  do  let  us  take  a  month — 
well,  then,  a  week  or  two,  at  least,  before  we  pledge 
ourselves  to  conditions  which  we  may  find  we  are  un- 
able to  perform,  and  add  that  crowning  mortification 
to  the  false  position  we  already  occupy." 

Mrs.  Chester  did  not  raise  her  head  or  open  her 
eyes,  but  murmured,  languidly :  "  Some  days  ago, 
Chat,  you  were  indignant  because  I  proposed  delay, 
and  yet  now  you  suggest  it  yourself." 

"Yes,  mamma,  because  you  now  propose  that 
which  in  the  end  may  be  far  more  humiliating  than 
delay.  Oh,  papa,  do  take  time  to  look  carefully  into 
this  matter." 

The  old  gentleman  smiled  nervously,  as  he  patted 
his  daughter  on  the  head. 

"You  are  too  timid,  my  child.  To  tell  the  truth, 
that  is  also  my  inclination.  But  I  rely  entirely  on 
your  mother's  judgment.  As  to  the  invention" — 
with  the  inventor's  typical  belief  in  himself — "there 
has  been  nothing  discovered  as  important  since  the 
application  of  steam." 

Chatterton  made  one  more  effort  to  stem  the  tide, 
but  it  had  set  in  too  strongly  to  be  checked,  and  it 
swamped  her  protest. 

Then  there  followed  an  hour's  talk  over  the  de- 
tails. In  their  consideration  it  became  necessary  to 
know  the  value  for  taxation  of  the  estate,  but  it  ap- 
peared that  no  one  present  knew  the  amount.  Of 
course  no  tax-bills  were  to  be  found  although  the 
General  looked  for  them  everywhere,  even  in  the 
cylinder  of  the  superseded  "Destroyer,"  now  fallen 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  91 

from  its  high  estate  and  devoted  to  receiving  the  odds 
and  ends  of  the  laboratory. 

After  this  vain  search  the  old  gentleman  announced 
his  intention  of  sending  over  to  the  court-house  for 
the  desired  information,  but  Perry,  anxious  to  leave 
the  family  alone  to  the  consideration  of  the  situation, 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  ride  over  for  the  papers.  To 
his  delight,  Chatterton  said  she  would  accompany 
him,  explaining  that  he  would  need  a  guide. 

After  a  hasty  luncheon,  extemporized  with  the 
aid  of  Bud's  fertile  resources  and  the  exertions  of  the 
indefatigable  Dandy,  the  horses  were  brought  to  the 
door,  and  the  General  and  Felix  walked  the  porch 
awaiting  Chatter  ton's  appearing. 

"You  will  find  that  the  bay  has  a  trick  of  throw- 
ing his  head  up  rather  suddenly,  but  I  use  a  martin- 
gale and — why  Dandy,  where's  the  martingale  ?" 

"  I'se  sorry,  Mars'  Gen'ral,  but  de  calf  done  chaw'd 
up  de  mart'ngale." 

"And,  pray,  how  did  the  calf  get  into  the  sta- 
ble?" 

"  Dunno,  Massa.  Reckon  dat  imp  o'  darkness  yon- 
der left  de  do'  open." 

The  "imp  of  darkness"  was  the  child  Tobe,  who 
was  being  jerked  off  his  feet  by  Chatterton's  fiery 
mare  with  each  turn  of  her  nervous  head.  The 
"imp,"  the  whites  of  his  eyes  unnaturally  distended 
with  fear,  was  understood  to  breathlessly  explain  that 
he  "aint  been  tha'." 

However,  it  was  discovered  that  the  calf  had  not 
irrevocably  destroyed  the  martingale,  and,  with  the 
dexterity  acquired  by  a  life-time  of  make-shift, 
Dandy  soon  mended  it  with  a  bit  of  string. 


92  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

Perry  had  not  supposed  it  possible  for  a  woman  to 
be  more  lovely  than  Chatterton  in  her  simple,  sum- 
mer, every-day  dress ;  therefore  he  was  not  prepared 
to  find  her  still  more  beautiful  in  her  riding-habit. 
To  be  sure  it  did  not  boast  a  London  tailor ;  but  a 
graceful,  youthful  form  defies  misfits,  and  the  home- 
spun acquired  reflected  merit.  Her  luxuriant  hair 
was  caught  up  under  a  jaunty  "  Derby,"  which  ar- 
rangement showed  to  advantage  the  graceful  curve 
of  her  white  neck,  encircled  with  a  tiny  collar. 

Accepting  Perry's  offer  of  assistance,  but  scarcely 
resting  her  foot  on  his  steady  hand,  she  vaulted  easily 
into  the  saddle  and  reined  in  her  clean-limbed,  wiry 
chestnut.  In  a  moment  Felix  was  mounted  and  by 
her  side,  and  the  two  rode  off,  followed  by  the  Gen- 
eral's parting  admonition  not  to  try  the  ford  if  the 
water  reached  "the  old  white  stump  on  the  north 
shore,"  which  injunction  prompted  them  to  go  by 
way  of  the  bridge,  the  longer  route. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

WITH  Chatterton  and  Perry  off  on  their  ride, 
Atherton  away,  the  General  and  Mrs.  Chester  rest- 
ing after  their  unusual  exertions,  and  Reggy  busy  bul- 
lying Tobe,  Rose  Hetherinton  found  herself  free  to 
consult  her  own  pleasure  for  a  couple  of  hours.  Such 
a  vacation  was  not  so  usual  an  event  as  to  be  lightly 
regarded  or  carelessly  thrown  away.  After  some  de- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  93 

liberation  she  determined  to  seek  a  shady  nook  by  the 
"run,"  and  enjoy  a  new  novel,  sent  her  by  a  friend. 

However,  she  was  doomed  to  disappointment,  for, 
on  reaching  the  spot,  she  found  it  already  occupied — 
Atherton  was  there,  lying  prone  upon  the  ground,  his 
face  half  buried  in  the  grass,  and  apparently  asleep. 

An  intimate  acquaintance  with  this  erratic  youth 
had  made  the  girl  quick  at  interpreting  his  moods. 
She  had  recognized  in  his  conduct  of  the  day  before  a 
stormy  condition,  and  had  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Btorm  had  not  yet  spent  its  fury. 

Desiring  therefore  to  escape  undetected,  she  ceased 
the  song  she  had  been  humming  and  lightly  tripped 
over  the  grass  past  the  prostrate  form.  But  Atherton 
was  not  asleep.  He  slowly  raised  his  head,  and  called 
after  her  in  a  low,  concentrated  tone  :  "  Do  you  wish 
to  avoid  me,  Bud  ?  " 

"I  thought  you  were  asleep,"  she  answered, 
evasively. 

He  silently  motioned  her  to  sit  down  beside  him, 
and  she,  returning,  complied.  She  certainly  would 
have  preferred  to  have  been  alone,  for  his  face  was 
flushed  and  haggard,  and  she  now  saw  that  he  had 
been  drinking.  He  raised  his  head,  and  supported  it 
upon  his  hand. 

"  I  need  advice — will  you  help  me  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  if  I  can. " 

"  What  shall  I  do  with  myself  ?  Of  course  you 
know  I  love  Chat,  and  also  how  little  she  really  cares 
for  me.  Shall  I  persevere — have  I  any  chance  ?  " 

"That  is  not  a  fair  question." 

He  appeared  to  be  quiet  enough,  but  she  well 
knew  his  excitement  was  smoldering. 


94:  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

"  Why  not,  Bud  ?  Did  you  suppose  it  was  a  ques- 
tion of  trifling  moment  to  me  ?  Do  not  you  see  I  am 
being  tortured  ?  " 

"  Well,  then,"  said  the  demure  little  woman,  with 
an  earnest  look  on  her  fair  young  face,  "  I  will  do  my 
best  to  help  you.  But,  Tony,  you  must  listen  pa- 
tiently, and  not  interrupt."  She  paused  a  moment, 
and  then  resumed  :  "  Chatterton  will  never  marry 
you  if  you  live  to  be  a  hundred  and  continue  to  woo 
her  as  you  have  hitherto.  You  are  too  impetuous 
and  fiery,  or  else  too  humble  and  self-sacrificing.  Can 
not  you  see  that  she  needs  a  cool,  composed,  strong 
will  to  guide  her  ?  " 

Atherton  sprang  to  his  feet  with  a  sudden  bound, 
and  stood  over  the  startled  girl. 

"  This  man  Perry,  I  suppose  you  mean.  This 
stranger  with  whom  she  spends  her  time,  with  whom 
she  has  just  ridden  off.  Is  this  your  advice,  your 
help  ?  Did  I  need  to  be  told  that  this  cold,  selfish, 
sordid  Northerner  had  supplanted  me  ?  To  think 
that  it  was  only  necessary  for  him  to  appear  for  her 
to  find  in  him  her  ideal,  and  you,  a  model  for  me  I 
Do  you  suppose  I  will  calmly  submit  to  having  hia 
phlegmatic  stolidity  held  up  for  imitation  ?  What 
has  come  over  you  all  ?  One  interloper  is  to  steal  the 
acres,  and  his  accomplice  is  to  be  canonized  !  And 
Chat — Ah  !  a  noble  exchange  is  hers.  My  heart  of 
fire,  my  love  that  is  as  high  as  heaven  and  as  deep 
as  hell,  is  to  be  cast  aside  for  this  new-comer,  this 
calculating  attorney's  clerk.  Oh,  of  course  !  Let  the 
devotion  of  a  life-time  go  for  naught,  and  the  careless 
attention  of  an  hour  count  for  everything.  But, 
mark  me,  Rose  Hetherinton,  he  shall  not  have  things 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  95 

all  his  own  way.  I  have  not  his  calmness,  his  cool 
deliberation-;  let  us  see  if  he  has  my  courage.  Be- 
cause 1  rebelled,  because  I  earnestly  pleaded  for  my 
old  place  in  her  affection,  Chatterton  saw  fit  to  se- 
verely reprove  me.  Nor  is  that  all ;  she  advised  me 
to  imitate  him — death  and  devils  ! — and  then,  just  be- 
cause I  lost  my  head  and  dashed  a  chair  to  the  floor, 
I  am  in  disgrace  ! " 

He  paused  for  breath.  Rose,  who  had  risen,  was 
about  to  speak  when  he  motioned  her  to  be  silent, 
and  resumed  : 

"  I  have  tried  to  calm  myself.  I  passed  all  last 
night  in  these  grounds ;  most  of  the  time  I  lay  on 
the  grass  beneath  her  window.  Yes,  I  tried  to  be 
politic.  But  where's  the  use  ?  I  can  not  even  ask 
your  advice  without  again  having  this  stolid  attorney 
thrust  upon  me,  and  being  told  that  only  by  imitating 
him  can  I  hope  to  win  Chatterton.  Damn  him  !  why, 
then,  does  she  not  take  him?  "  , 

11  Aye,  why  not  indeed  ! "  cried  the  girl,  forgetting 
her  usual  prudence.  "Do  not  you  see  that  hers  is  a 
nature  which  can  only  love  where  it  can  respect  ? 
How  can  you  hope  to  win  a  proud,  sensitive,  high- 
strung  woman  by  alternate  raving  and  vacilla- 
tion?" 

He  gazed  upon  her  wildly  :  "  So  be  it,"  he  cried. 
"I  now  know  the  value  of  woman's  love  and  friend- 
ship. Capricious  and  inconstant,  they  lightly  throw 
away  the  real  to  clasp  the  spurious.  Well,  it  seems  I 
must  'go  to  the  wall.'  But  one  thing  is  left  to  me — 
revenge  ! " 

A  moment  more  and  the  girl  was  standing  alone. 

Poor  Bud,  her  little  holiday  was  spoiled.     The 


96  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

novel  lay  neglected  in  her  lap,  and  she  gazed  with  a 
troubled  and  saddened  look  at  the  stream  as  it  slowly 
meandered  between  its  mossy  banks. 


CHAPTER   X. 

His  short  sojourn  in  Virginia  had  prepared  Perry 
to  find  almost  everything  different  from  what  it  was 
"up  North."  Still,  it  was  with  astonishment  that 
he  gazed  at  Braddox  Court-House. 

The  village  was  situated  on  a  slight  eminence  at 
the  intersection  of  two  roads,  on  a  well-chosen  spot. 
There  were  three  or  four  stately  old  mansions,  weather- 
stained  and  decrepit  to  be  sure,  but  still  retaining 
their  dignity.  But  by  far  the  larger  number  of  houses, 
and  all  the  stores,  were  in  a  state  of  hopeless  di- 
lapidation. Shanties,  like  weeds,  bore  testimony 
rather  to  neglect  than  to  thrift,  and  added  to  the 
desolation  of  the  scene. 

On  the  principle  of  the  kingship  of  the  one-eyed 
man,  amid  such  blindness  the  Court-House  stood  out 
in  bold  pre-eminence.  On  closer  inspection,  how- 
ever, it  was  easy  to  see  that  the  merit  was  solely  due 
to  comparison.  The  dreary  brick  structure,  two  sto- 
ries high,  occupied  the  center  of  an  inclosed  space. 
This  space  held  a  few  trees,  but  was  otherwise  barren 
and  neglected.  About  it  stretched  a  decrepit  fence, 
to  which  were  tied  a  dozen  or  more  horses,  most  of 
them  sorry  and  forlorn ;  so  forlorn  as  to  convey  the 
idea  that  they  had  been  forgotten  and  were  in  an  ad- 
vanced stage  of  starvation. 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  97 

About  the  building  itself  were  grouped  a  number 
of  white  and  black  persons,  of  all  ages  ;  but  there  was 
no  activity,  scarcely  motion.  Indeed,  the  scene  was 
singularly  suggestive  of  the  enchanted  land  where  all 
sentient  things  had  been  plunged  into  a  twenty-years' 
sleep,  and  where  the  spell  was  just  expiring  by  lim- 
itation. 

"Are  they  alive?"  Perry  could  not  help  asking 
with  ludicrous  earnestness. 

Chatterton  laughed  a  little  nervously  as  she  an- 
swered :  "About  as  much  as  they  ever  are.  Indeed, 
more  alive  than  usual,  for  this  is  court-day." 

They  dismounted,  and  leaving  the  horses  in  the 
care  of  a  darkey,  walked  slowly  toward  the  building. 
As  they  passed  the  silent  groups  the  white  men  took 
off  their  hats  to  Chatterton,  but  the  negroes  merely 
stared ;  save  now  and  then  some  old  darkey  who, 
remembering  the  decent  manners  of  by-gone  days, 
doffed  his  brimless  cap. 

Having  obtained  the  information  for  which  he 
had  come,  Perry  expressed  a  wish  to  see  the  court 
during  its  session,  and  so  they  entered  the  large,  shab- 
by room. 

The  judge  sat  behind  a  huge  desk  on  a  high  plat- 
form. A  fine-looking  old  man,  with  a  noble  head, 
but  so  careless  in  his  dress  and  so  slouchy  in  his  pose 
as  to  mar  the  dignity  of  his  appearance. 

"That,"  murmured  Chatterton,  surreptitiously 

indicating  him,  "is  Judge  X .  He  was  a  cavalry 

general  during  the  war,  and  is  covered  with  wounds. 
His  charge  is  said  to  have  saved  a  division  of  our 
army  at  Spottsylvania.  Do  you  see  that  little  man 

who  is  addressing  the  jury  ?  Well,  that  is  Gen.  S , 

7 


98  -A-    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

the  great  guerrilla  chief" — and  so  on,  Chatterton 
pointing  out  half  a  dozen  men  more  or  less  known  to 
history. 

And  still  Perry  wondered.  Here,  in  the  court- 
room, there  were  strong,  striking  faces.  Most  of  the 
men  had  the  stern,  set  mouth  and  the  deep-sunken  eyes 
which  are  the  heritage  of  the  soldier.  Here  were 
faces  which  bore,  besides  the  grimness  of  virile  old 
age,  the  furrows  of  care  —  furrows  left  where  it 
ploughed  deep  in  the  days  which  tried  men's  souls. 
Here  were  nervous  hands  which  lay  idle,  now  that 
they  no  longer  held  the  sword.  And  yet  Perry  won- 
dered, for  dejection  was  stamped  on  the  faces  of  most 
of  the  men.  Never  before  had  he  seen  such  compre- 
hensive melancholy. 

While  his  companion  talked  with  a  sad-eyed  man 
whom  she  called  "General,"  Felix  mused  on  the 
scene.  Were  these  men  the  victims  of  uncontrollable 
circumstances  ?  Was  it  that  the  doom  of  failure  and 
the  curse  of  the  sterility  of  the  ground  had  sounded 
in  the  ears  of  the  men  who  had  lifted  their  hands 
against  their  brothers,  and  they  were  dumbly  protest- 
ing that  their  punishment  was  heavier  than  they  could 
bear  ?  But  he  dismissed  this  thought  and  turned  to 
another.  Could  not  it  be  that  the  evolution  of  cus- 
tom had  unfitted  them  for  aught  but  leadership,  and 
yet  that  the  irony  of  fate  had  deprived  them  of  a  fol- 
lowing ?  Was  the  supineness  the  result  of  weakness 
or  of  misfortune — was  it  a  crime  or  a  visitation  ? 

By-and-by  they  were  again  mounted,  and  slowly 
wending  their  way  toward  the  ford.  For  a  time  they 
rode  on  in  silence,  each  occupied  with  thoughts  little 
guessed  of  by  the  other.  Chatterton  now  and  again 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  99 

glanced  at  the  straight,  strong,  determined-looking 
man  by  her  side,  vainly  striving  to  frame  into  lan- 
guage a  warning  she  wished  to  give  him,  all  the  time 
vaguely  conscious  that  he  was  to  go  away  the  follow- 
ing day  and  that  with  him  would  go  from  her  young 
life  a  certain  sense  of  restfulness  and  support.  The 
idea  that  the  strength,  the  moral  support,  was  to  her 
more  than  a  thing  to  be  admired  and  prized  in  the 
abstract,  or  that  this  crossing  of  their  paths  in  life 
was  more  than  an  incident,  did  not  enter  her  con- 
sciousness. Her  pride  made  her  slow  to  realize  that 
emotion-  which  the  gentler  side  of  her  nature,  if  un- 
trammeled,  would  have  been  quick  to  discern. 

He  was  meanwhile  thinking  of  both  Chatterton 
the  woman  and  Chatterton  the  estate.  As  to  the 
latter,  he  had  made  a  fool  of  himself,  so  he  expressed 
it  to  himself,  and  as  to  the  former  he  recognized  that 
his  feelings  were  undergoing  a  change.  So  long  as 
the  look  of  discontent  had  remained  to  mar  her  other- 
wise lovely  face  he  had  regarded  her  as  a  spoiled 
child,  a  willful  woman,  an  unreasonable  human  being. 
But  since  this  look  had  disappeared,  only  to  show 
itself  at  moments,  as  a  transient  April  shower  may 
sweep  over  the  face  of  nature  leaving  it  more  beautiful 
than  before,  he  had  become  conscious  of  growing  re- 
spect, not  so  much  perhaps  because  of  the  prominence 
of  any  one  cardinal  virtue  as  because  of  the  evidence 
of  noble  possibilities.  He  found  himself  pitying  her. 
It  really  seemed  too  bad  that  a  character  capable  of  a 
large  range  should  be  destined  to  languish  in  this 
restricted  field.  She  was  sure  to  have  her  spirit 
crushed  and  her  heart  broken  in  the  vain  endeavor  to 
extract  the  blood  of  true  sympathy  from  the  stones 


100  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

•with  which  she  was  surrounded.  And  what  could  the 
end  be  other  than  spiritual  deterioration  when  this 
inevitable  result  should  force  her  to  misconstrue  its 
lesson  and  should  persuade  her  that  the  fault  had 
been  in  her  own  super-romantic  expectation!  Our 
"  world  "  he  argued,  lies  in  our  immediate  surround- 
ings, be  they  noble  or  the  reverse.  Who  composed 
her  "world"?  A  silly,  selfish  mother  ;  a  wild,  undis- 
ciplined, erratic,  irresponsible  lover ;  friends  apathetic, 
or  crushed  and  broken  on  the  cruel  wheel  of  pov- 
erty :  where  could  she  turn  to  find  confirmation  of  any 
but  the  most  dispiriting  theories  ! 

He  was  so  occupied  with  these  reflections  that  he 
was  startled  when  she  addressed  him,  the  more  so  as 
her  words  seemed  an  answer  to  his  thoughts. 

"I  know,  Mr.  Perry,  that  our  people  here  are 
crushed  and  spiritless ;  that  they  sit  amid  the  ashes  of 
dead  hopes  and  make  no  effort  to  rekindle  them.  If 
this  is  evident  to  me,  how  much  more  must  it  impress 
a  stranger  !  But  let  me  assure  you  that  things  are  not 
as  bad  as  they  seem.  The  young  men,  the  men  of  the 
rising  generation,  are  active.  Look  at  the  new  South 
they  are  building  up  in  the  mining  regions  of  Alabama 
and  Georgia.  The  men  you  have  to-day  seen  are  too 
old  to  change,  or  else  are  chained  to  the  wheel  of 
routine  duty.  Are  you  quite  sure  you  do  them 
justice?" 

He  turned  on  her  his  frank,  manly  face,  as  he 
answered:  "  Have  I  accused  them? " 

"Not  in  words  ;  but  you  looked  disapproval." 
He  smiled.     "  You  are  a  keen  observer." 
She  had  a  formal,  old-fashioned  way  of  expressing 
herself  which  was  very  charming  to  Perry,  and  the 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  1Q1 

mannerism  lost  nothing  from  the  fact  that  her  low, 
musical  voice  had  the  soft,  caressing  intonation  of 
the  South.  Even  the  provincial  elision  seemed  rhyth- 
mic when  issuing  from  her  lips.  And  now  these  lips 
were  trembling  with  earnestness. 

"They  have  lost  everything,  remember — slaves, 
wealth,  comrades,  cause,  and  country ;  are  you  sur- 
prised that  they  let  hope  go,  too  ?  " 

"Frankly,  yes,  I  am  surprised.  Twenty  years  and 
more  have  gone  by  since  the  war,  and  the  past  has 
buried  its  dead.  Besides,  you  know,  they  have  cot 
lost  their  country.  It  is  as  much  theirs  as  ever  it  was 
or  could  have  been.  I  fear  they  are  too  fond  of  their 
misery  for  it  to  be  as  unbearable  as  they  make  them- 
selves believe." 

She  partly  agreed  with  him,  and  yet  she  had  to 
bite  her  lip  to  repress  a  sharp  retort.  Two  days  ago 
she  would  have  made  no  effort  at  such  repression. 
Somehow  she  had  changed.  With  increased  respect 
for  the  man  beside  her  had  come  increased  respect  for 
his  opinions.  But  still  she  had  not  reached  the  point 
of  overt  concurrence  with  views  so  diametrically 
opposed  to  her  training. 

Not  being  answered,  Perry  continued  :  "  I  fear  the 
luxury  of  woe  has  become  ineradicable  with  them. 
They  certainly  appear  hopeless." 

"  Or  else,  in  a  few  cases,  too  hopeful,"  she  an- 
swered hurriedly,  finding  an  opening  she  had  sought 
for  ever  since  they  had  left  her  home,  "and,  like  my 
dear  father,  prone  to  anticipate  success  too  confidently. 
Since  this  morning,  Mr.  Perry,  I  have  wished  for  a 
chance  to  speak  with  you  upon  a  subject  which  is 
very  near  my  heart.  In  fact,"  turning  her  head  a 


102  -A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

little  away  from  him,  "it  was  for  this  that  I  under- 
took to  pilot  you  to  the  court-house.  You  are  about 
to  submit  to  Cousin  William  the  several  offers  my 
father  has  made  for  the  old  place.  "Were  I  as  confi- 
dent of  the  success  of  the  new  inventions  as  are  the 
others  of  my  family,  I  should  heartily  share  with  them 
in  the  general  rejoicing.  My  dear  father,"  and  her 
flushed,  tearful  face  was  turned  toward  her  companion, 
"is  so  wrapped  up  in  his  visionary  life  that  he  has 
lost  somewhat  his  old  force  of  judgment  and  clearness 
of  discernment.  He  has  lived  so  long  surrounded  by 
the  ideal  that  the  real  is  vague  to  him.  Wonderful  as 
his  inventions  undoubtedly  are,  none  of  them  have 
been  subjected  to  a  crucial  test.  How  can  we  know, 
therefore,  that  this  last  discovery  will  actually  accom- 
plish the  purpose  which  he  expects  of  it  ?  I  feel  it 
my  duty  to  say  this  to  you  so  that  you  may  neither  be 
overconfident  yourself  nor  imbue  Cousin  William 
with  the  same  dangerous  assurance." 

Had  she  not  been  so  serious,  had  he  not  realized 
that  she  was  heroically  facing  a  painful  duty,  he 
would  have  been  unable  to  repress  a  smile.  As  it  was, 
he  was  very  serious  indeed  as  he  answered  : 

"Your  cousin,  Miss  Chester,  will  accept  none  of 
your  father's  offers.  Of  this  I  am  quite  confident.  I 
speak  to  you  frankly,  because  you  have  done  me  the 
honor  to  be  frank  with  me.  I  need  not  tell  you,  I 
trust,  that  I  shall  in  no  way  advise  Mr.  Chatterton, 
but  will  place  the  matter  before  him  and  then  leave 
him  unbiassed  as  far  as  I  am  concerned.  I  feel  quite 
confident,  however,  that  he  will  refuse  each  and  all  of 
the  offers." 

"I  sincerely  trust  he  will." 


A    VIRGINIA    INHERITANCE.  1Q3 

Perry  understood  this;  still  he  said,  "And  yet 
you  love  the  old  place  ?  " 

"  I  love  it  dearly  ;  but,  Mr.  Perry,  I  love  our  in- 
dependence still  more.  If  Cousin  "William  should 
accept  any  of  the  offers,  and,  years  hence,  even,  have 
reason  to  regret  his  decision,  I  should  die  of  mortifi- 
cation." 

Felix  had  often  heard  young  girls  state  circum- 
stances which,  if  realized,  would  make  them  die  of 
"mortification,"  or  "regret,"  or  "anger,"  and  had 
grown  rather  callous  to  the  danger  of  untimely  death 
which  threatened  the  fair  martyrs  ;  but  now,  some- 
how, he  was  almost  inclined  to  believe  the  fiery  young 
creature  by  his  side. 

After  a  short  pause  he  said  :  "I  am  sensible  of 
a  feeling  of  real  regret  that  you  all " — he  rather 
astonished  himself  by  this  easy  adoption  of  the  local 
idiom  —  "will  forever  associate  me  with  the  un- 
pleasant part  of  my  mission,  while  I,  on  the  contrary, 
will  carry  about  with  me  only  the  most  delightful 
memories  of  your  kindness.  I  shall  never  forget  that 
I  have  been  the  innocent  cause  of  much  trouble  to 
you  and  yours." 

He  was  endeavoring  to  draw  her  away  from  more 
painful  thoughts.  He  must  have  been  successful,  for 
she  smiled  as  she  answered  : 

"  You  certainly  are  the  victim  of  morbid  casuistry. 
The  same  argument  carried  to  a  logical  conclusion 
would  implicate  Adam." 

It  was  a  good  thing  to  ride  "  under  the  greenwood 
tree,"  to  laugh  and  to  talk  and  to  look  into  the  sym- 
pathetic face  of  a  lovely  woman  ;  and  Perry  felt  it  to 
be  good.  Therefore  it  was  with  considerable  eager- 


104:  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

ness  that,  on  reaching  the  ford,  he  pointed  out  that 
the  water  was  quite  up  to  "the  old  white  stump  on 
the  north  shore,"  and  argued  that  common  prudence, 
and  the  General's  strict  injunction,  demanded  that 
they  should  return  to  the  manor  by  the  more  circu- 
itous way  of  the  bridge. 

Well,  this  especial  ride  was  no  exception  to  the 
undeviating  rule  in  mundane  things — it  came  to  an 
end.  They  had  talked  of  a  hundred  things,  some 
grave,  some  gay,  and  had  learned  much  more  of  one 
another  than  they  had  known  before,  but  one  subject 
had  remained  untouched  upon — the  extraordinary 
scene  of  the  night  before.  For  all  each  could  tell 
from  the  manner  of  the  other,  it  was  forgotten,  though 
each  well  knew  it  was  not. 

By  one  of  those  accidents  which  sometimes  happen 
in  even  the  worst  regulated  families,  the  evening 
meal  at  Chatterton  was  ready  by  seven  o'clock,  and 
"dinner"  was  announced  with  even  more  than  the 
usual  formality.  Mrs.  Chester  adorned  the  board 
with  her  presence,  and  was  affable  and  gracious 
with  the  serenity  of  spirit  which  comes  from  the 
contemplation  of  un tellable  thousands  in  posse.  She 
could  talk  of  nothing  but  their  prospective  wealth, 
and  grew  eloquent  over  the  improvements  which 
would  be  made  in  house  and  grounds,  and  pathetic 
over  the  cottages  which  were  to  be  erected  for  "  the 
tenantry." 

The  General  was  decked  out  for  the  festive  occa- 
sion ;  his  usual  homespun  coat  having  been  exchanged 
for  decorous  black.  Evidence  was  not  lacking  that 
the  meal  was  intended  as  a  ratification  of  the*  compact 
which  this  amiable  couple  appeared  to  think  had  been 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  105 

virtually  entered  into  between  themselves  and  the 
"Pretender." 

Chatterton  sat  silent  through  her  mother's  mono- 
logue. Since  she  had  been  assured  that  the  chances 
were  decidedly  against  her  cousin's  accepting  the 
offers  which  were  to  be  transmitted  to  him,  she  could 
listen  to  the  extravagant  Spanish-castle  building  free 
of  all  fear,  and  troubled  only  with  mortification  at 
her  mother's  grandiloquence. 

Atherton  was  not  present.  Indeed,  his  name  was 
not  even  mentioned.  His  coming  and  going  were 
absolutely  erratic,  and  being  an  unknown  quantity, 
no  one  sought  his  equation.  Bud  was  preoccupied 
and  silent,  and  occasionally  cast  anxious  glances  at 
Perry. 

After  dinner  Felix  was  taken  to  the  laboratory, 
and  had  the  working  of  the  new  motor  explained  to 
him.  Strange  to  say,  he  was  fascinated.  Notwith- 
standing Chatterton's  warning,  notwithstanding  his 
growing  skepticism  in  the  General's  scope  in  practical 
matters,  he  could  not  help  feeling  a  stirring  of  enthu- 
siasm. What  if  it  should  turn  out  to  be  all  that  the 
inventor  claimed  for  it !  Little  wonder  that  Perry  was 
beguiled  ;  for,  added  to  the  typical  plausibility  of  the 
thorough -paced  inventor,  the  General  had  a  calm 
reliance  on  himself,  a  superb  trust  in  his  own  genius, 
which  was  convincing.  Napoleon  at  Austerlitz,  Wel- 
lington at  Waterloo,  or  Nelson  at  Trafalgar,  were  not 
more  victorious  than  he. 

Perry,  however,  had  a  violent  return  of  skepticism 
when  he  left  the  theoretic  consideration  of  the  machine 
and  asked  to  have  its  functions  practically  demonstrat- 
ed, for  the  General  did  not  indulge  this  not  unnat- 


106  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

ural  request.  On  the  contrary,  he  smiled,  but  shook 
his  head,  as  he  explained  that  at  least  one  link  in  the 
chain  must  remain  the  exclusive  property  of  the  in- 
ventor ;  and  that  in  the  present  case  he  wished  to  be 
able  to  say  to  too  inquisitive  would-be  investors  that 
none  knew  the  secret  but  himself,  and  none  need 
know  it,  as  all  subscriptions  would  be  accepted  sub- 
ject to  future  practical  demonstration  of  the  capability 
of  the  invention  to  creditably  fill  its  role.  "Besides 
which,"  continued  the  old  gentleman,  modestly, 
" there  are  some  slight  details  yet  unperfected,"  quite 
conveying  the  idea  that  it  was  but  the  matter  of  a  few 
hours  and  a  screw-driver. 

Later  in  the  evening  Ohatterton  and  Perry  were 
again  alone  on  the  porch.  They  talked  with  that  un- 
reserve which  is  so  delicious  when  acquaintance  has 
developed  into  friendship,  and  friendship  hesitates 
upon  the  brink  of  love. 

They  conversed  on  rather  serious  subjects,  as  con- 
versation will  sober  when  an  unwelcome  parting  is 
imminent.  Perry  begged  that  their  acquaintance 
might  not  end  there  ;  for  his  part,  he  would  look  for- 
ward to  an  early  meeting.  Of  course,  this  was  neces- 
sarily vague,  but  they  were  both  of  them  young  and 
hopeful,  and  nothing  desirable  seemed  impossible. 

Chatterton  had  listened  silently  while  he  expressed 
his  intention  of  returning  "  some  day "  ;  but  Perry 
was  satisfied  notwithstanding  the  silence,  for  the 
chord  of  true  sympathy  does  not  exclusively  depend 
upon  verbal  expression  of  its  vibrations. 

The  last,  lingering  " good-night"  having  been 
spoken,  Felix  went  to  his  room  and  leisurely  pre- 
pared for  his  coming  journey.  He  methodically  col- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  107 

lected  his  papers  and  letters  to  pack  them  in  his 
trunk — where  was  the  duplicate  tax-bill  ?  Surely  he 
had,  immediately  on  returning  from  the  court-house, 
placed  it  in  the  drawer  of  the  old-fashioned,  carved, 
rickety  writing-desk  which  stood  by  the  window  ! 

This  desk  was  a  curious  contrivance.  Its  high  and 
otherwise  useless  back  boasted  but  one  drawer  ;  here 
Perry  had  kept  his  papers  during  his  stay  at  Chatter- 
ton.  Under  this  drawer  was  a  carved  shell,  and  un- 
der that,  again,  a  recess  wherein  were  kept  the  ink 
and  pens,  which  the  carefulness  of  some  one — pre- 
sumably Bud — had  provided  for  his  use.  Perry  pulled 
vigorously  at  the  drawer,  thinking  that  possibly  the 
missing  paper  had  fallen  behind  it,  but  it  would  not 
come  out  entirely. 

Peering  inside,  he  thought  he  saw,  protruding 
over  the  back  of  the  drawer,  a  corner  of  the  missing 
paper.  He  tried  to  reach  it,  but  the  aperture  was  not 
large  enough  to  admit  his  hand.  Then,  mechanically, 
as  one  is  apt  to  under  like  circumstances,  not  know- 
ing what  else  to  do,  he  passed  his  hand  into  the  open- 
ing under  the  shell — nothing. 

However,  in  withdrawing  his  hand,  he  distinctly 
felt  the  bottom  part  of  the  shell  move  ;  no  doubt,  time 
had  loosened  it.  If  he  could  remove  this  piece  of 
carving  might  not  it  uncover  an  empty  space  under 
the  drawer,  and  enable  him  to  reach  the  mutinous 
paper  ?  One  vigorous  pull  showed  him,  to  his  sur- 
prise, that  the  shell  had  not  been  loosened  by  time, 
but  was  the  front  of  a  drawer.  There,  provokingly 
curled  up  and  with  one  corner  still  held  by  the  other 
drawer,  lay  the  document  which  had  caused  him  all 
the  trouble.  In  a  moment  he  was  in  possession  of  the 


108  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

paper,  and  was  about  closing  the  compartment  when 
his  eyes  rested  on  a  bundle  of  letters. 

Little  wonder  he  stood  dumbfounded  ;  little  won- 
der he  passed  his  hand  dazedly  over  his  forehead. 
There,  tied  up  with  a  small  package  of  faded,  dusty 
letters,  was  the  photograph  of  the  woman  he  had  once 
loved — Barbara ! 

What  did  it  mean  !  There  could  be  no  possible 
doubt  as  to  the  likeness,  for  had  not  he  once  owned 
its  duplicate  ?  Was  it  possible  that,  having  learned 
of  this  incident  in  his  early  life,  Atherton  Leigh,  to 
revenge  himself,  had — but  no,  the  idea  was  absurd  ! 

He  must  have  the  mystery  explained — to-night ! 

He  hurriedly  descended  the  stairs,  the  photograph 
in  his  hand. 

There  was  no  one  in  the  drawing-room,  although 
the  lamp  had  not  been  extinguished.  Hearing  light 
foot-falls  on  the  porch,  he  went  to  the  front  door — 
yes,  there,  in  the  shaft  of  bright  light  which  streamed 
from  the  window,  stood  Chatterton. 

"  Oh,  it  is  you,  Mr.  Perry — you  quite  startled  me  ! 
Have  you  too  been  tempted  by  the  lovely  night  ?  It 
really  seems  profanation  to  be  in  the  house." — then, 
perceiving  his  white,  perplexed  face,  she  hurriedly 
added,  "  Is  anything  wrong  ?  " 

"  I — I  have  made  a  surprising  discovery.  In  look- 
ing for  a  missing  paper  I  accidentally  opened  a  secret 
drawer  of  the  writing-desk  in  my  room,  and  found  in 
it  the  portrait  of  the  woman  I  was  to  have  married. 
Is  it  possible  that  you  knew  her  ? "  and  he  handed 
her  the  photograph. 

Wonderingly,  she  took  it  from  his  hand,  and  turned 
toward  the  light. 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  1Q9 

No  sooner  did  her  eyes  rest  upon  the  likeness  than, 
with  an  exclamation  of  surprise,  she  bent  hastily  over 
it ;  then,  straightening  herself,  she  said,  in  a  yoice 
trembling  with  excitement :  "  There  is  some  mis- 
take here.  You  have  given  me  the  wrong  photo- 
graph ! " 

"No,"  he  said  simply,  the  look  of  bewilderment 
still  on  his  face. 

"  I  tell  you  there  is  a  mistake  ! "  she  cried.  "  Do 
not  attempt  to  deceive  me.  By  some  means  you  have 
obtained  possession  of  this  likeness  and  are  basely 
using  it  to  force  our  secret  from  us  ! " 

"  You  are  strangely  deceived,  Miss  Chester ;  the 
portrait  is  " — 

She  interrupted  him  wildly  :  "  This  woman  is  not 
dead,  and  you  know  it !  She  is  alive.  Her  name  is 
Barbara.  She  married  my  brother,  and  is  the  mother 
of  our  Reginald  ! " 

She  stood  erect  and  defiant  before  him,  her  eyes 
ablaze  with  anger. 

After  a  moment  in  which  to  recover  from  his 
amazement,  Felix  spoke  to  her.  His  voice  was  low 
but  firm,  his  whole  bearing  dignified  and  impressive  : 
"  The  portrait  you  hold  in  your  hand,  Miss  Chester, 
is  the  likeness  of  the  woman  I  was  to  have  married. 
Her  name  was  Barbara,  but  the  man  she  married  was 
named  Armitage.  If  you  still  doubt  my  assertion  as 
to  how  it  happens  you  find  me  in  possession  of  this 
photograph,  send  to  my  room.  There  will  be  found 
the  secret  drawer,  open,  as  I  have  told  you." 

Her  eyes  were  still  upon  him.  It  seemed  as  if  she 
would  read  his  very  soul.  The  bright  moonlight 
must  have  revealed  to  her  fixed  gaze  ample  evidence 


HO  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

of  his  truthfulness,  for,  without  warning,  she  sank 
into  a  chair  and  burst  into  a  passion  of  tears. 

Ferry  was  greatly  distressed.  Even  his  astonish- 
ment and  indignation  gave  place  to  a  feeling  of  pity. 
Still,  he  wisely  forebore  consolation.  By-and-by  the 
sobbing  ceased,  but  she  sat  motionless,  her  face 
in  her  hands.  Perry  walked  to  the  edge  of  the  porch, 
and  stood  there  gazing  on  the  moon-glorified  scene. 
How  mysterious  it  all  seemed.  There  was  no  sound 
to  be  heard  save  the  far-off  baying  of  a  hound  ;  soon 
this,  too,  ceased,  and  everything  was  still. 

He  did  not  know  what  to  think.  Was  he  about 
to  hear  some  startling  revelation  ?  What  did  this  girl 
mean  by  her  wild  assertion  that  Barbara  was  alive  ? 

"  Mr.  Perry  ! " 

In  an  instant  he  was  at  her  side.  She  continued, 
falteringly  :  "  I — I  am  ashamed.  I — I  beg  your  par- 
don. I  see  it  all  now,  and  will  explain.  But  oh,  can 
I  ever  look  up  again  ! " 

"  Do  not  reproach  yourself,  Miss  Chester.  Under 
the  pressure  of  excitement  one  is  not  expected  to 
weigh  words." 

She  slowly  rose  from  the  chair.  "  You  are  gen- 
erous," she  said,  "  and  your  generosity  is  a  reproach 
to  me."  She  leaned  against  a  pillar  of  the  porch,  and 
covered  her  face  with  her  hands. 

"  Pray  do  not  say  another  word." 

"I  must  at  least  explain,"  she  answered,  "  even  if 
you  are  too  noble  to  allow  me  to  reproach  myself." 

"  Please  explain  nothing  ;  do  not  harrow  your 
feelings." 

But  she  would  not  be  quieted,  and  he  was  forced 
to  yield.  Brokenly  and  painfully  she  began  her  re- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

cital,  lifting  her  head  from  her  hand,  and  forcing  her- 
self to  look  at  him  :  "  The  man  who  married  Barbara 
Hastings  was  my  brother.  He  " — she  turned  away  her 
face  in  very  shame — "  he  married  her  under  the  name 
of  Armitage,  assumed  because — because  in  marrying 
her  he  was  committing  a  crime  !"  Here  she  broke 
down  completely.  Again  he  urged  her  not  to  pro- 
ceed, but  she  motioned  him  to  be  silent,  and  con- 
tinued :  "He  died  within  a  month  of  his  elopement 
with  Barbara ; "  again  she  paused,  then  resumed,  in 
an  almost  inaudible  voice — "  he  was  killed  in  a  duel." 

One  question  was  hovering  on  his  lips,  and  yet  he 
would  not  ask  it.  She  seemed,  however,  to  divine 
his  thoughts,  for  she  nerved  herself  to  new  effort,  and 
said  :  "  I  now  see  the  strange,  the  almost  incredible 
coincidence  which  led  to  the  misunderstanding  and 
to  my  unjust  suspicion.  The  room  you  occupy  was 
my  brother's.  My  mother  must  have  thought  it  the 
safest  place  for  her  dead  boy's  treasures.'*'  Her  voice 
was  pitifully  weak  and  tremulous,  and  she  gasped  for 
breath.  After  a  pause,  in  which  to  somewhat  recover 
her  composure,  she  again  spoke  :  "  The  man  who 
robbed  you  of  your  intended  bride  is  dead,  but — 0 
Mr.  Perry,  nothing  but  your  generosity  and  my  de- 
termination to  deserve  it  would  wrench  the  secret 
from  me — Barbara  did  not  die.  She  lives,  but  lives 
a  wretched,  hopeless,  darkened  life,  from  which  noth- 
ing but  death  can  free  her.  She  lives  a  living  death, 
and  my  brother  was  the  cause  of  it ! " 

Then  she  turned  and  slowly  left  him  standing 
there  in  the  summer  night,  the  shock  of  a  great  sur- 
prise heavy  upon  him.  An  hour  later  found  him  still 
on  the  porch. 


112  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

What  he  had  heard  certainly  furnished  food  for 
thought.  Barbara  deceived  by.  the  mau  for  whom 
she  had  deceived  him  ;  Barbara  the  mother  of  Regi- 
nald, and,  most  pitiable  thought,  Barbara  a  mental 
wreck  !  Of  course  she  was  dead  to  him,  still  she  had 
once  filled  his  mind  and  his  heart ;  had  once  been 
the  one  woman  of  all  the  world  !  To  such  a  one,  even 
in  her  decadence,  self-love  is  apt  to  accord  a  certain 
consideration,  on  the  principle,  perhaps,  of  "once  a 
king  always  a  king,"  be  he  as  throneless,  homeless, 
and  harmless  as  poor  Lear. 

For  a  long  time  he  could  dwell  upon  nothing  but 
the  awful  retribution  that  had  so  soon  followed  on 
her  sin.  A  far  too  heavy  puishment,  he  told  him- 
self ;  for  he  remembered,  with  a  surge  of  pity  welling 
from  his  heart,  that  she  had  grown  up  wild  and  un- 
disciplined. 

After  a  while,  however,  his  mind  reverted  to  the 
still  unexplained  points  in  this  strange,  sad  history. 
These  gradually  resolved  themselves  into  one  absorb- 
ing question  :  if  Reggy  was  poor  Barbara's  son,  how 
could  the  child  be  Bud  Hetherinton's  brother  ?  He 
tried  to  find  an  answer  to  this  in  the  general  disre- 
gard of  relevancy  in  the  use  of  titles  by  the  denizens 
of  Chatterton,  but  even  the  recollection  of  some  re- 
markable proofs  of  this  irrelevance  did  not  seem  to 
justify  Bud's  voluntary  assertion  that  the  child  was 
her  brother,  if  in  fact  he  was  not.  As  to  the  crime 
committed  by  the  man  who  had  supplanted  him  in 
Barbara's  affections,  he  was  not  in  doubt ;  it  was  big- 
amy. Chatterton  Chester's  words  could  bear  no  other 
construction.  The  duel,  and  its  fatal  results  ?  That, 
no  doubt,  grew  out  of  the  crime.  Some  relative  of 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  H3 

the  deceived  wife,  most  likely,  had  avenged  her.  The 
rest  was  easy  of  explanation.  Discovery  of  her  sup- 
posed husband's  crime  and  his  tragic  death  had  un- 
hinged the  poor  girl's  mind,  and  left  her  in  her  pres- 
ent pitiable  condition.  For  the  Chesters  to  allow  the 
report  of  her  death  to  pass  current,  therefore,  was  not 
unnatural  on  the  part  of  those  who  "  lived,  breathed, 
and  had  their  being  "  steeped  in  family  pride.  And 
her  child,  what  a  dreadful  heritage  was  his  !  Name- 
less, orphaned,  and  with  that  taint  in  his  blood  ! 
Better  that  he  should  die  before  the  sins  of  the  father 
could  blight  his  happiness,  and  the  madness  of  the 
mother  fill  him  with  a  haunting  dread. 

And  yet — strange  tyranny  of  the  heart — these  dis- 
tressing and  puzzling  thoughts  did  not  long  absorb 
his  consciousness.  No,  a  vision  supplanted  them ; 
the  face  of  a  woman,  passionate  and  willful  to  be  sure, 
but  a  face  which  he  had  seen  made  beautiful — beauti- 
ful both  when  ablaze  with  anger  and  when  penitential 
with  tears — the  face  of  the  woman  he  loved. 

Yes,  he  now  confessed  it  unreservedly ;  standing 
just  outside  the  shadow  of  the  past  and  within  the 
first  streak  of  dawn  of  a  new  hope. 


CHAPTER  XL 

PERRY,  preferring  to  walk  through  the  delicious, 
early  morning  air  to  rumbling  over  the  uneven  roads 
in  the  Chester  carriage,  left  Chatterton  Hall  on  foot 
for  Braddox  Station  on  the  morning  after  the  events 
last  related. 
8 


114:  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

The  leave-takings  had  been  characteristic. 

Mrs.  Chester  was  more  of  an  invalid  than  ever, 
and  consequently  more  pathetic  about  herself.  The 
exertion  of  the  day  before  had  shattered  her  nerves  ; 
she  was  suffering  agony,  but,  martyr-like,  would  not 
complain.  No,  for  the  beloved  patriarchal  acres  she 
would  go  to  the  stake  ! 

The  General  was  evidently  the  victim  of  high- 
pressure  brain-work,  and  was  unusually  silent.  The 
invalid  confided  to  Perry's  sympathetic  ear  that  the 
inventor  had  passed  the  night  in  his  laboratory,  test- 
ing "an  inspiration"  which  had  come  to  him  "with 
almost  a  shock."  Mr.  Perry,  of  course,  would  not 
refer  to  it  to  any  one  save  to  Cousin  William,  there- 
fore the  partner  of  the  joys  and  sorrows,  the  labors 
and  the  triumphs  of  this  wonderful  genius  would  lift 
a  corner  of  the  veil  which  shrouded  this  stupendous 
secret.  The  new  discovery  consisted  of  a  process  by 
which  clouds  were  to  be  gathered — chemically — and 
precipitated — artificially — upon  arid  wastes  ! 

She  was  quite  willing  to  admit  that  the  invention 
was  not  yet  perfected.  No  doubt  some  envious  per- 
sons would  think  the  conception  itself  visionary  ;  but 
if,  she  would  like  to  know,  a  little  oil  would  calm  an 
angry  ocean,  why  need  this  greater  idea  be  deemed 
chimerical  !  This  she  evidently  considered  an  un- 
answerable analogical  conclusion. 

"Ah,  Mr.  Perry,"  she  added,  "we  were  much 
too  liberal  in  our  offers  to  my  kinsman.  Still,  we 
take  nothing  back  ;  nothing  whatsoever  !  " 

The  busy  little  housekeeper,  Bud,  bade  the  lawyer 
adieu  with  demure  earnestness.  Even  Reggy  helped 
to  speed  the  parting  guest,  and  did  it  with  high  ac- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  H5 

claim  ;  for  was  not  he  to  be  driven  by  Dandy  over  to  the 
station,  perched  on  "de  gemlum's  trunk  all  de  way," 
as  Dandy  graphically  expressed  it,  seeking  to  add  the 
element  of  pleasurable  anticipation  to  the  child's 
unusual  treat. 

And  finally,  Chatterton.  Hers  was  the  last  face 
he  saw  as  he  reluctantly  turned  the  corner  of  the 
woods  which  hid  the  old  house  from  view.  Her  part- 
ing words  were  almost  the  same  with  which  she  had 
accosted  him  at  their  first  meeting — a  warning  as  to 
the  broken  porch-plank  ;  very  necessary  now,  else  he 
certainly  would  have  stumbled  into  the  hole,  his  eyes 
and  attention  being  otherwise  engaged. 

And  now  he  was  again  alone  on  the  road.  There 
in  the  landscape  were  the  rather  depressing  physical 
features  he  had  noticed  ten  days  before.  Ten  days  ! 
Surely  there  must  be  some  mistake ;  surely  it  must 
have  been  longer.  No  ;  he  was  very  apt  to  quote  the 
truthfulness  of  figures,  and  this  equation  was  too  sim- 
ple to  admit  of  mistake. 

There  was  the  tree  under  which  he  had  seen  old 
Uncle  Silas ;  there  the  eminence  from  which  he  had 
reconnoitered.  All  were  unchanged.  But  he — ?  Yes, 
he  was  changed,  he  realized  ;  if  in  nothing  more  than 
a  deepening  of  the  color  and  sentiment  of  existence, 
at  least  markedly  in  this. 

Thus  in  contemplation,  but  not  whistling  as  when 
first  he  traversed  this  same  road,  Perry  pursued  his 
way. 

Presently  his  musings  were  interrupted  by  the 
measured  cadence  of  a  horse's  foot-beats.  Upon  look- 
ing back  he  recognized  the  rider  to  be  Atherton. 
On  overtaking  him,  Leigh  sprang  to  the  ground, 


116  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

and,  passing  the  rein  through  his  arm,  confronted 
Perry. 

To  the  lawyer's  greeting  the  young  man  made  a 
surly  reply,  completely  ignoring  the  welcoming,  out- 
stretched hand.  Perry  smiled  good  -  naturedly  ;  he 
had  learned  to  lay  little  stress  upon  the  other's  moods. 

After  a  moment's  silence  Atherton  said:  "Are 
you  intending  to  return  here  ?  " 

"Do  you  mean  immediately  ?" 

"Ever." 

"Ever  is  a  long  time,  friend  Leigh." 

"Mr.  Leigh,  if  you  please." 

Felix  looked  up  in  astonishment.  Not  yet  did  he 
realize  that  the  other  was  seeking  a  quarrel.  He 
merely  wondered  why  the  youth  had  joined  him  if 
this  was  to  be  the  tone  of  their  intercourse. 

"  You  are  suddenly  sensitive,  Mr.  Leigh  ;  I  but 
follow  your  lead." 

"  When  I  addressed  you  less  formally  we  were  on 
a  different  footing." 

"  And  what,  pray,  is  the  present  footing  ?  " 

"Inimical,  as  you  well  know." 

Perry  glanced  sternly  at  his  companion,  and  now 
noticed  that  he  was  deadly  pale  and  laboring  under 
stress  of  great  excitement. 

"Come,  come,  young  man,  I  have  no  desire  to 
quarrel ;  but  I  warn  you  that  my  patience  has  its 
limits." 

"Indeed  !"  cried  the  other,  his  face  a  shade  more 
ghastly  than  before,  "  that  suits  my  purpose  admi- 
rably— I  feared  having  to  do  some  prodding  to  force 
your  courage  to  the  sticking-point.  I  am  here,  sir, 
to  demand  that  you  give  me  your  word  never  again  to 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  H7 

return  and  in  no  way  to  communicate  with  General 
Chester's  family." 

"And  if  I  refuse  this  very  reasonable  demand — ?" 

"Then  you  must  take  the  consequences." 

"And  they  are— ?" 

"That  I  shall  demand  instant  satisfaction." 

"  Indeed  !  And  do  you  suppose,  Sir  Bombastes, 
that  I  will  give  the  pledge  ?  " 

"  Take  care  how  you  taunt  me !  My  temper  is 
not  well  under  control  at  the  best  of  times  ;  now  it  is 
less  so  than  usual.  I  am  not  the  fortunate  possessor 
of  your  marvelous,  but  prudent,  self-command." 

Perry  was  at  a  loss  how  to  deal  with  this  fire-eater. 
It  was  useless  to  attempt  to  appease  him,  since  it 
would  only  rouse  him  to  unbearable  abuse.  To  bandy 
words  was  undignified  ;  to  quarrel  seriously,  ridicu- 
lous. For  a  brief  moment  he  thought  of  inflicting 
personal  chastisement,  but  wisely  determined  to  re- 
serve this  extreme  measure  as  a  last  resort." 

"Come,  Mr.  Leigh,"  he  said,  "let  us  have  no 
more  of  this.  Of  course  your  demand  is  absurd.  My 
conduct  and  movements  are  controlled  only  by  my 
will.  I  have  done  nothing  to  give  you  just  cause  for 
offense,  and  certainly  refuse  to  give  you  satisfaction 
for  an  imaginary  injury." 

"  You  have,  sir,  come  between  me  and  my  pleas- 
ure ;  that  is  affront  enough." 

Perry  burst  into  a  hearty  laugh. 

At  its  first  note  Atherton  sprang  back,  disengaged 
his  arm  from  the  rein,  and  dragged  from  his  pocket 
two  small  dueling-pistols. 

"  There,  sir,"  his  voice  fairly  quivering  with  ex- 
citement, "choose." 


118  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

"Thank  you,  no,"  said  Perry,  calmly. 

"You  will  not?" 

"No,  I  will  not.  Your  insane  proposition  is  not 
worthy  of  serious  consideration." 

"  Do  you  wish  me  to  brand  you  a  coward  ?" 

"  If  you  like,  since  that  will  not  prove  me 
one." 

"  Are  you  absolutely  impervious  to  insult  ?  If 
you  are  not  to  be  goaded  into  giving  me  the  satisfac- 
tion due  from  one  gentleman  to  another,  I  will  try  if 
you  can  not  be  brought  to  bay." 

As  he  said  these  words,  Atherton  threw  one  of  the 
pistols  to  the  ground  in  front  of  Felix,  and,  taking  a 
couple  of  backward  steps,  exclaimed  from  between 
ashen  lips  and  through  clinched  teeth  :  "Defend 
yourself  or  I  will  shoot  you  down  like  a  dog  ! " 

Felix  straightened  himself  to  his  full  height. 
"Then  shoot,"  he  cried,  "if  you  are  coward  enough 
to  do  it ! " 

The  moment  was  certainly  a  trying  one  ;  the  fren- 
zied man  seemed  capable  of  murder.  Still,  Perry 
would  not  defend  himself.  At  least  he  would  be  free 
of  the  blood  of  this  madman. 

A  lingering  sense  of  justice,  a  shrinking  from 
shooting  an  unarmed  man,  or  else  admiration  for  the 
other's  cool  courage,  seemed  to  arrest  Atherton's  pur- 
pose, for  he  slowly  lowered  his  weapon,  rather  stag- 
gered than  walked  to  a  neighboring  tree,  and  leaned 
against  it,  panting,  his  face  averted. 

Instantly  recovering  his  composure,  Perry  lifted 
the  pistol  from  the  ground  and  removed  the  cap. 
Then  without  a  word  he  took  from  Leigh's  relaxed 
fingers  the  other  pistol  and  treated  it  in  like  manner. 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  119 

Then  he  handed  the  weapons  to  Atherton,  who,  bare- 
ly turning  his  head,  clasped  them  in  his  hand. 

There  was  a  moment's  pause.  The  horse  lifted 
his  head  from  the  scant  grass  which  he  had  been  nib- 
bling, but,  seeing  that  nothing  was  to  be  demanded  of 
him,  returned  to  his  grazing. 

At  length  Perry  broke  the  silence.  "Before  I 
leave  I  demand  satisfaction  of  you.  "Why  did  you 
pursue  me — what  have  I  done  to  injure  you  ?" 

His  companion  turned  a  white  face  slowly  upon 
him.  "You  have  affected  the  whole  course  of  my 
life,"  he  cried,  brokenly,  physically  as  well  as  mental- 
ly relaxed  by  the  reaction  from  excitement.  "  We 
were  all  happy  and  contented  till  you  came  among 
us." 

"I !  Why,  what  have  I  done?  How  have  I  af- 
fected your  happiness  ?  " 

"You  changed  them  all  toward  me  !" 

"  That  is  absurd.  The  fancy  has  "sprung  from 
your  morbid  imagination.  And  was  it  for  this  imag- 
inary injury  you  wished  to  kill  me  ?  " 

"Yes,"  answered  Atherton,  defiantly. 

"  I  can  not  credit  it !  There  must  have  been 
some  other  motive." 

"There  was,"  cried  Leigh,  "but  I  do  not  admit 
your  right  to  demand  it." 

"And  so,  I  was  to  have  been  killed  because  of  an 
offense  the  nature  of  which  I  have  no  right  to  ask  ;  or 
else  have  killed  you,  and  never  known  why  ?  " 

''The  assurance  that  an  offense  had  been  given 
should  be  sufficient  to  compel  you  to  grant  me  satis- 
faction." 

"  But  where  is  the  satisfaction  ?    What  would  be 


120  -4    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

proved  ?  You  say  I  have  disturbed  your  relations 
with  the  family  at  Chatterton  ;  suppose  you  had  shot 
me,  would  that  have  reinstated  you  in  their  good 
graces  ?  If  so,  it  argues  an  odd  social  condition.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  I  had  killed  you  it  is  difficult  to 
see  how  that  would  have  helped  you.  It  is  a  queer 
perversion  of  terms  to  call  that  *  giving  satisfaction.' " 

"I  do  not  argue,  I  act." 

"  I  can  honestly  testify  to  the  correctness  of  that 
statement.  But,  come,  let  us  make  an  end  of  this. 
If  you  will  tell  me  in  what  I  have  offended  I  may  be 
able  to  explain  the  misconception  under  which  you  are 
laboring." 

"  Promise  me  you  will  not  return  here  again,  and 
I  will  tell  you  all." 

"  We  have  gone  once  completely  around  that  circle. 
Come,  let  us  keep  within  rational  bounds." 

"  Beware,  sir  !  I  am  putting  great  restraint  upon 
myself  ;  do  not  press  me  too  hard." 

"Heaven  forbid  that  I  should  interfere  with  so 
laudable  and  so  unusual  an  effort !  Still,  I  feel  as  if  I 
had  the  right  to  know  your  grievance,  since  on  its  ac- 
count I  have  been  within  an  inch  of  being  murdered." 

"  Murdered  ! " 

"Yes,  murdered.  What  do  you  call  it,  a  chival- 
rous jealousy  of  honor  ?  Such  chivalry  as  that  is  a 
disgrace  to  civilization  !  Do  not  interrupt  me,"  see- 
ing that  the  other  was  about  to  speak,  "  you  are  no't 
compelled  to  defend  so  monstrous  a  perversion  of 
1  honor.'" 

"Take  care  ! "  cried  Atherton  ;  "  I  am  ready  to 
make  allowance  for  excitement,  and  even  some  indig- 
nation on  your  part,  but  I  can  not  grant  you  too  much 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  121 

latitude  on  that  account.  I  shall  resent  further 
criticism." 

"  Do  you  intend  to  tell  me  the  cause  of  your  as- 
sault ?  "  queried  Perry,  impatiently. 

Atherton  visibly  hesitated.     Still  he  answered  : 

"  No." 

"  Very  well,  then  I  am  off.  Only,  as  you  are  the 
cause  of  a  delay  through  which  I  may  miss  my  train, 
your  horse  must  carry  me.  I  will  leave  him  with 
Dandy,  at  the  station." 

And  Felix,  approaching  the  animal,  deliberately 
adjusted  the  reins  and  mounted  into  the  saddle.  He 
expected  a  not  overgentle  remonstrance  from  Ather- 
ton ;  but,  to  his  surprise,  none  was  made.  He  was 
about  to  ride  off  when  Leigh  detained  him. 

"  I  confess  to  having,  in  one  respect,  done  you  an 
injustice  ;  you  are  not  a  coward. " 

Perry  was  looking  down  on  the  young  man.  Not- 
withstanding the  other's  absurdity,  folly,  and,  gener- 
ally, total  lack  of  moral  qualities,  he  could  not  but 
admire  the  physical  beauty  and  be  attracted — even 
against  his  better  judgment — by  Leigh's  wild,  semi- 
barbaric  impulsiveness. 

"  That  recognition,"  he  said,  "  though  coming  a 
little  late,  enables  us  to  part  more  amicably  than 
seemed  likely  a  few  moments  ago.  You  permit  me 
to  take  your  horse  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes  ;  turn  him  loose  at  the  station ;  he 
knows  the  way  home."  And  then,  after  a  moment's 
pause,  and  while  Felix  was  gathering  up  the  reins  : 
"  After  all,  I  will  tell  you  my  reason  for  having  wished 
to  kill  you,  trusting  on  your  honor  not  to  repeat  it." 
He  folded  his  arms,  and  with  the  color  slowly  mount- 


122  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

ing  to  his  forehead,  continued  :  "  But  first  hear  why  I 
have  changed  my  purpose ;  it  is  that  if  hereafter  at 
any  time  fate  should  throw  you  with  General  Chester's 
family  you  will  refrain  from  such  attentions  to  Miss 
Chester  as  you  have  recently  allowed  yourself." 

"Take  care,  we  are  dangerously  near  debatable 
ground." 

"  We  will,  if  you  please,  treat  the  matter  seriously." 

"Do  you  suppose  I  am  in  a  humor  for  jesting  ! 
How  often  must  I  tell  you  your  manner  and  tone  are 
objectionable  !  Once  for  all,  I  brook  no  interference 
with  my  affairs,"  and  he  drove  his  heels  into  the 
horse's  flanks. 

Pale  with  anger,  Atherton  seized  the  reins.  "  You 
shall  hear  me.  And,  what  is  more,  you  shall  respect 
my  wishes  in  this  matter.  Know,  sir,  that  not  only 
do  I  represent  myself  in  making  this  demand,  but  that 
I  represent  the  lady,  too.  I  occupy  a  position  which 
even  you  will  not  challenge — Miss  Chester  is  my  affi- 
anced wife." 

There  was  a  moment's  pause.  Then,  without  a 
word,  Perry  again  urged  forward  the  horse,  and  pressed 
on  toward  the  station. 

Atherton  Leigh's  promised  wife  !  What,  Chatter- 
ton — the  proud,  haughty  Chatterton  in  love  with  this 
weather-cock  !  Suddenly  he  paused  in  the  impetuous 
rush  of  his  resentment — was  she  in  love  with  the  boy  ? 
Had  not  Atherton  himself  accused  him  of  alienating 
the  others  ;  which,  of  course,  meant  Chatterton  ?  Did 
not  the  well-remembered  scene  of  the  porch,  when 
Leigh  dashed  the  chair  to  the  floor,  imply  present 
indifference  to  the  young  man,  even  while  it  testified 
to  the  truth  of  his  assertion  of  an  anterior  engagement  ? 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  123 

And  yet,  to  Perry  there  was  small  consolation  in  this 
mental  change  of  base,  for  what  must  he  not  think  of 
a  woman  who  could  so  lightly  love,  and  so  lightly  cast 
away  !  Then  he  recalled  a  remark  made  by  Bud; 
she  had  said  that  in  the  South  engagements  were 
lightly  regarded  ;  that  often  a  Southern  girl  was 
engaged  to  four  or  five  men  in  turn,  before  she  ul- 
timately married.  Could  it  be  possible  that  Chatter- 
ton  Chester  had  allowed  herself  to  follow  so  barbarous 
an  example  ?  It  seemed  incredible  !  Her  pride,  her 
haughtiness  (amounting  almost  to  a  serious  fault)  the 
delicacy  with  which  he  had  credited  her — all  cried  out 
that  the  thing  was  impossible.  And  yet,  Atherton's 
words  and  the  trustworthiness  of  circumstances,  and 
his  own  painful  experience  showed  how  false  may  be 
mere  outward  indications  of  a  woman's  excellence  ! 

Do  not  blame  him  for  an  overhasty  conclusion. 
Remember  that  the  blighting  heritage  of  the  once 
deceived  is  mistrust. 

What  could  it  matter  to  him  even  if  it  were  to  be 
proved  that  Atherton's  jealousy  was  well  founded,  and 
that  in  the  nascent  knowledge  of  what  true  manly 
strength  and  dignity  meant,  Chatterton  had  recog- 
nized that  hitherto  she  had  been  mistaken  in  suppos- 
ing she  loved  ?  Nothing  ! 

No,  the  dream  was  over ;  and  now  to  return  to  the 
work-a-day  world.  Thus  he  argued  to  himself.  As 
far  as  the  girl  herself  was  concerned,  of  course,  it  was 
a  great  pity.  But  just  then  he  was  more  occupied  with 
self-pity,  justified  by  what  he  deemed  that  very  right- 
eous law  as  to  self-protection  having  a  prior  claim. 

His  last  glimpse  of  Braddox  Station  remained  long 
after  in  Perry's  memory.  It  had  a  trick  of  recurring 


-4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

at  odd  and  totally  irrelevant  moments  to  puzzle  him 
as  to  the  mental  connection.  Yet  the  vignette  was 
common-place  enough.  The  rickety  "  Station  "  ;  the 
butternut-clad  native ;  Atherton's  patient  horse  re- 
turning alone  to  his  master ;  Dandy  holding  aloft  the 
enthusiastic  Reggy  ;  the  antediluvian  wagon,  with  its 
pensive  horse  and  the  pack-thread  harness — these,  with 
the  golden  background  of  a  June  day,  constituted  the 
picture. 

Then  the  train  which  was  hurrying  Felix  from  the 
hospitable,  out-at-elbow,  irrelevant,  sympathetic  South 
to  the  cold,  practical,  industrious,  logical  North, 
turned  an  abrupt  curve,  and  Perry  at  the  same  mo- 
ment turned  over  one  more  page  in  the  volume  of  his 
life. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Two  months  had  passed  since  Perry's  return  from 
Virginia.  Leaden  months,  although  laden  with  rou- 
tine business,  for  DodrufE  and  Pringle  were  both  off 
on  their  annual  vacation. 

June's  roses  had  budded,  blown,  and  withered,  and 
July's  fields  had  yellowed  to  the  harvest.  Now  Au- 
gust was  in  possession  of  the  world  and  was  diligently 
burning  it  crisp  and  dry  with  her  pitiless  sun.  Every 
one  was  out  of  town  ;  that  is,  only  a  million  or  so  of 
persons  were  left  to  the  mercy  of  the  devitalized  air 
and  the  red-hot  bricks. 

Business  went  about  in  scant  raiment,  carrying  a 
huge  fan  ;  but,  of  course,  there  was  no  help  for  it,  as 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  125 

the  wife  and  daughters  must  have  their  dozens  of 
Paris  dresses  for  the  Newport  and  Saratoga  campaign. 

Club-men  sought  shady,  embrasured  windows  and 
affected  cooling  potions,  the  while  cursing  the  evil 
fortune  which  bound  them,  Ixion-like,  to  their  re- 
spective wheels  of  torture. 

Felix  had  received  one  or  two  letters  from  the  Gen- 
eral and  many  from  Mrs.  Chester.  These  were,  of 
course,  upon  the  business  with  which  he  seemed  now 
identified.  It  did  not  occur  to  him  that  the  Chesters 
were  using  him  quite  as  much  as  was  his  client,  Mr. 
Chatterton,  and  that  it  was  not  inconvenient  to  have 
an  attorney  and  not  have  his  bill.  The  thought  cer- 
tainly never  came  to  the  General  or  his  wife.  "  Down 
there"  everything  belongs  to  everybody  else,  even 
one's  time  and  brains.  However,  in  justice  it  must 
be  said  that  they  give  quite  as  cheerfully  as  they 
take. 

A  bright  little  epistle  had  also  come  from  Bud. 
It  contained  the  united  thanks  of  herself,  Reggy,  and 
Dandy  for  a  certain  box,  packed  with  souvenirs,  which 
found  its  way  to  that  secluded  spot.  Perry  won- 
dered who  had  carried  it  over  from  the  "cote-house." 
It  may  have  been  the  peddler,  it  may  have  been  the 
doctor,  or  some  chance  farmer  going  that  way ;  and 
while  thus  half-smilingly  wondering  he  wished  him- 
self back  amid  these  charming,  inconsequential  people 
till  he  suddenly  reminded  himself  that  he  had  forgot- 
ten he  had  turned  down  that  leaf  ! 

After  some  casuistic  self-communion  he  had  de- 
cided that  to  send  a  set  of  Robert  Browning's  poems 
to  Chatterton  need  not  be  held  to  mean  a  reperusal  of 
the  quitted  page,  and  so  the  volumes  had  gone  on 


126  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

their  way.  After  all,  even  if  the  girl  had  grievously 
disappointed  him  that  was  110  reason  that  she  should 
not  read  Browning.  Were  the  poet  reserved  exclu- 
sively for  those  who  are  not  disappointing,  he  would 
have  a  limited  audience,  and  the  great  world  would  be 
the  loser. 

In  the  course  of  time  a  quaintly  expressed,  rather 
shy  little  letter  had  come  to  thank  him,  a  letter  which 
caused  him  more  emotion  than  he  liked  to  confess 
even  to  himself.  Having  argued  the  head  into  toler- 
able discipline  he  did  not  relish,  this  evidence  of  the 
insubordination  of  the  heart. 

For  a  long  time  he  industriously  told  himself  (the 
iteration  evidencing  the  insistance  of  determination 
rather  than,  that  of  conviction)  that  this  girl  had 
shown  want  of  right  feeling,  had  been  guilty  of  heart- 
lessness  and  fickleness.  Even  the  influence  of  local 
custom,  he  argued,  was  no  excuse — unmindful  of  its 
marvelous  potency.  However,  as  the  moons  waxed 
and  waned  he  gradually  softened  down  the  rigor  of 
this  criticism  till  only  enough  remained  to  sadden  him 
with  a  sense  of  disappointment. 

In  the  first  days  of  his  return  Perry  had  experi- 
enced an  odd  feeling  of  bewilderment.  It  was  as  if 
he  had  slept  for  many  months,  only  to  awaken  to  find 
the  world  had  pushed  far  ahead  of  his  data ;  besides 
this  he  grew  almost  to  hate  the  bustle  and  stir  of  the 
great  city.  Implication  governs  appreciation  ;  he  was 
no  longer  as  exclusively  a  metropolite  as  formerly. 

Mrs.  Denvers  and  Mrs.  PolliveE  Jones  were  at 
Newport ;  Denvers  in  New  York  ;  Polliver  banished 
to  Switzerland. 

Mrs.  Underdunk  and  Mr.  Clyde  were  stopping  with 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  127 

a  common  friend  at  Bar  Harbor.  These  two  certainly 
earned  their  salt  if  the  object  in  inviting  them  was  to 
entertain  the  other  guests  with  that  attractive,  half- 
cynical,  half-indulgent  raillery  which  goes  so  far  to- 
ward reconciling  one  to  the  insincerity  of  modern  so- 
ciety. 

Mrs.  Dare  was  away  also.  She  was  off  with  old 
Mr.  Bramble  on  his  steam-yacht.  There  were  others 
of  the  party,  but  no  evidence  that  a  chaperon  had 
been  shipped  for  the  cruise.  Still,  appearances  were 
preserved,  as  they  cleverly  managed  to  have  one  in 
every  port. 

"  The  great  Chatterton  "  was  in  town  and  besieged 
Perry's  office  almost  daily.  Nothing  definite  had  been 
decided  about  the  Virginia  estate.  As  Felix  had  pre- 
dicted, all  the  munificent  offers  of  the  Chesters  had 
been  at  once  declined.  For  a  time  negotiations  had 
been  declared  off ;  but  recently  there  had  been  signs 
of  renewed  vitality  in  Braddox  County,  followed  by  a 
new  set  of  propositions,  which,  however,  on  closer  in- 
spection proved  to  be  the  old  ones  skillfully  disguised. 

These  new  offers  still  remained  unanswered,  not 
because  there  had  been  overt  question  of  accepting 
them,  but  because  Mr.  Chatterton  had  palpably  wav- 
ered. Observing  that  the  idea  of  investing  in  the 
General's  inventions  did  not  now  arouse  in  his  client 
the  withering  sarcasm  with  which  the  first  batch  of 
proffers  had  been  greeted,  Perry  one  day  said  :  "  Why 
do  not  you  go  yourself  to  Chatterton  ?  It  can  do  no 
harm,  and  you  may,  although  I  am  skeptical  on  this 
point,  reach  some  satisfactory  adjustment." 

"  What,  I  ?  Oh,  you  know,  that  would  never  do. 
We  would  quarrel  the  first  day." 


128  -4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

11  That  might  in  itself  accomplish  something." 

"  Quite  true,  but  there  is  a  possible  alternative ; 
they  might  wheedle  me  into  buying  the  patents — not 
patented  ?  Well,  then,  the  inventions. " 

"  They  may  prove  valuable.  In  the  fear  of  influ- 
encing you  in  one  direction  I  may  have  underrated 
their  importance,  and  thus  erred  in  the  other.  If  you 
could  bring  together  a  dozen  capitalists  to  hear  the 
General  describe  his  discoveries  I  think  it  possible  you 
could  organize  a  stock  company  ;  but  first,  of  course, 
you  must  be  yourself  persuaded  of  the  utility  of  the 
inventions.  To  me  the  General  is  positively  convinc- 
ing till  he  is  asked  for  practical  demonstrations ; 
there  he  fails.  However,  this  is  but  an  individual 
opinion." 

But  Chatterton  shook  his  head  and  departed,  un- 
convinced. 

The  next  day  he  again  returned.  The  patient 
Felix  arose  with  a  sigh  to  receive  him.  A  second 
glance  showed  Mr.  Chatterton  to  be  under  stress  of  a 
more  than  ordinary  attack  of  self-importance.  Know- 
ing his  man  well  by  this  time,  Perry  made  no  com- 
ment, but  let  him  reveal  his  weighty  news  in  his  own 
way. 

"Do  you  know,  Perry,  I  have  been  thinking  seri- 
ously of  what  you  said  yesterday  ?  After  all,  why 
may  not  a  few  thousands  be  as  safely  invested  in  the 
General's  inventions  as  in  most  of  the  securities  one  is 
offered  in  Wall  Street  ?  If  the  money  should  ulti- 
mately go  it  would  be  no  killing  matter.  To  offset 
this  chance  there  is  the  fascinating  possibility  of  the 
thousand  per  centum  profit.  See  what  money  was 
made  by  the  original  investors  in  the  Bell  telephone 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  129 

stock  !  I  have  staked  on  as  unlikely  chances  in  '  the 
street,'  and,  as  I  have  said,  if  in  stocks,  why  not  in 
patents  ?  Come,  go  with  me  to  Virginia,  and  we  shall 
see  what  we  shall  see  ! " 

For  a  moment — a  very  small  fraction  of  a  moment 
— Perry  hesitated.  But  even  in  that  brief  time  a  pict- 
ure swept  over  the  disk  of  his  memory — a  girl ;  a 
vine-clad  porch ;  a  scented  June  morning — then  he 
gathered  himself  together  :  "  It  is  out  of  the  question, 
Mr.  Chatterton.  My  partners  are  both  away ;  and, 
besides,  I  really  could  be  of  no  use  to  you  down  there. 
No,  go  alone  ;  it  is  much  better  so." 

The  other  laughed  a  little  nervously  :  "I  suppose 
it  is  useless  to  urge  you,"  he  said.  "  Still,  to  tell  the 
truth,  I  am  a  little  afraid  to  go  alone.  They  will  be 
sure  to  wrest  the  acres  from  me — my  dear,  troublesome, 
prized,  patriarchal  acres  !  But  no,  I  will  not  give  them 
up.  Help  me  to  concoct  some  device  by  which  I  can 
deal  with  the  Chesters  only  in  regard  to  the  inventions, 
and  yet  by  which  I  can  relegate  the  question  of  event- 
ual ownership  of  Chatterton  to  the  misty  and  unde- 
fined future." 

"That  you  will  find  hard  to  accomplish." 

"  But  it  must  be  done.  I  can  not  go  down  there 
unarmed  against  their  assaults." 

Perry  thought  a  moment,  then  he  said  :  "  You 
might  leave  your  cousin  in  possession  of  the  place  for 
one  year  longer,  on  some  such  terms  as  the  following, 
for  instance  :  You  to  invest  a  certain  amount  in  the 
inventions  ;  if  at  the  end  of  the  year  the  investment 
has  paid  you  a  certain  stipulated  sum,  then  you  to 
give  up  Chatterton  to  the  Chesters.  If,  however,  the 
returns  on  your  investments  do  not  amount  to  the  sum 
9 


130  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

agreed  upon,  then  the  Chesters  to  vacate  the  home- 
stead, and  surrender  all  claim  thereto." 

"But  that  would  make  it  possible  for  me  ulti- 
mately to  lose  the  place  ! " 

"  True  ;  but  in  that  case  you  would  have  a  hand- 
some sum  as  compensation.  Besides,  you  have  just 
expressed  the  opinion  that  the  chances  in  favor  of  the 
inventions  proving  valuable  are  very  slim.  Of  course, 
the  arrangement  is  not  all  that  you  could  wish,  but  I 
do  not  see  that  you  are  likely  to  secure  better  terms, 
since  you  will  not  prosecute." 

"Do  you  think  the  Chesters  will  agree  to  this 
plan  ? "  asked  Mr.  Chatterton,  failing  signally  in  the 
endeavor  to  seem  indifferent. 

"  I  am  sure  they  will.  They  are  so  imbued  with 
the  importance  and  value  of  the  General's  inventions 
that  they  will  be  willing  to  have  the  future  discounted 
at  almost  any  rate  to  secure  enough  money  to  develop 
them." 

"  Well,  I  will  at  least  go  to  Braddox.  Once  there 
I  shall  let  circumstances  govern,  holding  your  plan  in 
reserve  in  case  they  press  me  too  hard." 

There  was  a  paiise.  Outside,  a  little  bird  was 
swinging  gaily  on  a  telegraph  wire,  and  upon  it  Felix 
concentrated  his  attention.  How  many  birds  there 
were  at  Chatterton  !  One,  he  remembered,  had  flown 
into  the  red  room,  and  had  perched  therein,  like  Poe's 
raven  in  miniature.  He  wondered  if — but  his  thoughts 
were  rudely  interrupted  by  "the  claimant." 

"  There  is,  Perry,  a  very  sad  story  connected  with 
my  cousin's  family.  Hitherto  I  have  hesitated  to  men- 
tion it,  as  it  is  desirable,  for  my  cousin's  sake,  that  it 
should  be  forgotten  by  the  world  as  soon  as  possible, 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

and  I  respect  the  general  prejudice  against  opening  the 
family  closet  and  exposing  to  rude  gaze  a  family 
skeleton.  For  my  own  part  I  do  not  mind  these  hid- 
den cadavres.  Of  course,  all  old  families  have  them. 
Like  other  archaic  things — bits  of  old  blue  china  and 
Dutch  silver,  for  instance — they  may  not  be  overhand- 
some  themselves,  but  at  least  they  evidence  antiquity, 
and  are  picturesque  on  that  account.  This  especial 
secret  is,  I  confess,  a  little  too  new  to  be  freely  dis- 
cussed. It  needs  half  a  century  or  so  to  mellow  it. 
Two  generations  from  now  it  will  be  a  family  relic. 
The  time  has  come,  however,  when  you  must  know  of 
this  tragedy  ;  as  my  legal  adviser  you  should  be  fully 
posted  on  family  matters.  When  you  have  heard  what 
I  am  about  to  tell  you  it  may  be  clearer  to  you  why  I 
am  indulgent  to  Mrs.  Chester." 

"  One  moment,  Mr.  Chatterton.  Accident  has  put 
me  in  possession  of  at  least  part  of  the  story  to  which 
you  refer.  Remarkable  as  the  coincidence  may  seem, 
I  knew  Reggy's  mother  before  she  was — before  she  ran 
away  with  Chester.  I  thought  her  dead,  poor  woman, 
but  have  recently  heard  of  her  more  terrible  fate." 

"  You  astonish  me  !  How  did  you  learn  the  par- 
ticulars ?"  queried  his  client. 

f<  I  stumbled  upon  them  at  Chatterton." 
"  How  much  of  the  story  do  you  know  ?  " 
"As  much  as  I  need  know,  I  am  quite  sure,  as 
your  attorney.     The  details  are  surely  unnecessary.-" 
Of  course  it  was  a  painful  subject  with  him. 

But  his  companion  would  not  be  repressed  :  "Ex- 
cuse me,  I  differ  with  you.  A  little  information  may 
be  as  dangerous  as  a  little  learning.  You  really  must 
allow  me  to  state  the  circumstances."  And  Mr.  Chat- 


132  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

terton  tilted  back  his  chair,  picked  a  fan  from  off  the 
desk,  and  proceeded  :  "Donald  Chester  was  a  bright, 
captivating,  thriftless,  shiftless  boy  ;  and  wild,  terribly 
wild.  When  he  was  but  twenty-one  he  married  a 
widow,  with  one  child.  The  widow's  name  was 
Hetherinton,  and  Kose  is  her  daughter." 

Perry  wondered  he  had  not  thought  of  this  solution 
of  the  mystery ;  but,  then,  where  else  in  the  world, 
besides  Virginia,  would  so  tortuous  a  kinship  justify 
the  girl  in  speaking  of  Reggy  as  her  brother  ! 

Mr.  Chatterton  resumed :  "  Rose  was  then  but  five 
years  old,  her  mother  but  three  and  twenty.  Of 
course  the  marriage  proved  an  unhappy  one.  The 
boy  had  been  entrapped — his  wife  was  an  adventuress. 
I  am  told  she  was  handsome  and  plausible  ;  of  course 
Donald  was  overmatched." 

"  You  have  never  seen  her,  then  ?  "  queried  Felix, 
feeling  that  comment  was  expected. 

"  Neither  I  nor  any  of  Donald's  family  have  ever 
set  eyes  on  her.  You  see,  my  uncle  forbade  the  young 
couple  his  house.  Well,  to  return.  After  a  year  of 
stormy  married  life  they  separated.  Donald  was  then 
welcomed  back  to  Chatterton  as  a  prodigal  on  proba- 
tion. The  woman  joined  her  brother,  Clayton  Hag- 
gard, in  Richmond  ;  but  the  boy  Donald — he  was  lit- 
tle more  than  a  boy — was  not  born  to  succeed.  He 
tried  one  thing  and  then  another,  and  failed  at  all. 
His  mother  continually  asserted  that  he  was  going  to 
do  wonders,  but  something  always  intervened.  For 
three  or  four  years  life  at  Chatterton  was  anything 
but  cheerful.  At  last  my  uncle  could  stand  it  no 
longer  and  bought  Donald  off  with  a  thousand  dollars, 
the  lad  agreeing  not  to  return  to  Chatterton  during 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  133 

his  great-uncle's  lifetime.  With  this  money  the  young 
fellow  went  to  New  York  and  then  to  Boston.  In 
this  latter  place  he  met — " 

"I  know,"  interrupted  Felix  in  a  low  tone. 

"  By  the  way,  Perry,  how  did  you  happen  to  know 
Barbara  Hastings  ?  " 

"  It  was  in  Boston  ;  when  I  practiced  law  there. 
I  sincerely  regret  to  say  that  it  was  through  me  she 
became  acquainted  with  Donald  Chester,  only  he  did 
not  call  himself  Chester  then,  but  Armitage.  He 
brought  me  a  letter  of  introduction  from  a  man  who 
had  been  at  college  with  me,  named  Dare.  Why  Dare 
deceived  me  as  to  the  real  name,  or  whether  he  was 
himself  deceived,  I  do  not  know." 

"Dare  ?    Any  relation  to  the  debatable  widow  ?" 

Felix  flushed  slightly. 

"He  afterward  became  her  husband.  Do  you 
doubt  his  death?" 

"  Bless  your  soul,  no !  Beg  pardon  ;  I  did  not  re- 
member she  was  a  friend  of  yours." 

To  this  Perry  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  reply. 

Chatterton,  repenting  him  of  the  gibe  which  he 
had  intended  as  a  reflection  on  the  widow's  social 
position,  hastened  to  return  to  his  narrative.  "You 
know  that  Donald  was  killed  in  a  duel  ?  " 

Perry  answered  affirmatively. 

"  And  not  by  whom  ?  "  queried  the  other. 

"No." 

"  Then  I  will  tell  you.  As  I  have  said,  after  the 
separation  Donald's  wife  went  to  live  with  Clayton 
Haggard,  her  brother,  who  owned  a  place  near  Rich- 
mond. From  there  she  made  repeated  appeals  to  my 
uncle  for  money.  Some  of  these  he  acceded  to,  some 


134:  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

he  refused,  all  he  resented.  I  am  persuaded  it  was 
this  persecution,  Donald's  implication  therein  and 
the  ceaseless  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  boy's  mother  to 
prove  her  son  a  martyr  that  induced  my  uncle  to 
change  his  will  and  to  leave  me  his  chief  heir.  But 
to  return.  Donald  actually  married  Barbara.  Of 
course  it  was  a  mere  form,  but  he  was  obliged  to  do 
it  to  satisfy  the  girl's  scruples,  and  he  was  not  the 
man  to  give  up  the  woman  upon  whom  he  had  fixed 
his  affections.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  Barbara  knew 
nothing  of  a  previous  marriage  or  of  the  Haggard- 
Hetherinton  woman.  This  woman's  brother  was  a 
fierce,  bold,  fighting  devil,  willing  enough  to  have  his 
sister  separated  from  her  boy  husband  so  long  as  there 
was  money  to  be  made  out  of  the  old  man,  but  mor- 
bidly jealous  of  the  *  honor '  of  the  family  where  there 
was  no  question  of  judicious  silence  being  made  profit- 
able. I  had  always  known  that  Donald  was  brave ; 
but,  egad,  it  was  positive  temerity  for  him  to  wound 
the  honor  of  a  Haggard  without  golden  salve  within 
reach  !  Poor,  rash,  brave  boy  !  He  was  terribly  in 
the  wrong  it  is  true,  but  he  paid  for  it  handsomely. 
Within  a  month  of  his  crime  his  young  life-blood  was 
staining  his  native  soil,  and  Clayton  Haggard  was  led 
unhurt  from  the  field." 

There  was  a  pause,  Chatterton  wishing  thereby  to 
heighten  the  dramatic  effect  of  his  recital.  After  a 
little  he  resumed  :  "  The  rest  is  soon  told.  Haggard 
left  the  country,  taking  his  sister  with  him.  .  They 
went  to  Italy,  and,  for  all  I  know  or  care,  are  there 
now.  Then  Reggy  was  born — poor  little  fellow — in 
the  asylum.  He  was  at  once,  however,  taken  to  my 
uncle's  house,  and  has  lived  there  since.  Another 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  135 

year  passed.  One  day  a  letter  came  to  my  uncle  from 
the  principal  of  the  school  near  Richmond.  It  stated 
that  no  money  had  been  paid  for  Rose's  tuition  or 
board  for  more  than  a  year,  and  that  letters  to  the 
mother  remained  unanswered.  This  led  to  negotia- 
tions, my  uncle's  name  not  appearing,  however,  the 
affair  being  conducted  by  a  charitable  guild  connected 
with  one  of  the  churches,  which  culminated  in  a  com- 
plete surrender  of  her  child  by  the  Haggard-Hetherin- 
ton  woman,  for  a  consideration  ;  and  thus  it  happens, 
strangely  enough,  that  Rose  and  Reggy  are  living  un- 
der the  same  roof,  and  that  roof  mine.  One  more 
word  and  the  story  is  ended.  By  his  will  my  uncle 
encumbered  the  estate  of  Chatterton  with  *the  support 
of  these  two  children  during  their  minority  and  with 
an  annuity  of  three  hundred  a  year  each,  thereafter. 
Thus,  you  see,  they  are  my  especial  charge." 

Perry  felt  he  was  expected  to  say  something  ;  be- 
sides he  was  really  affected.  "It  is  a  strange,  pathetic 
story.  It  shows  what  misery  may  follow  one  wrong 
act.  The  crime  committed  by  Donald  Chester  will 
sadden  the  already  overburdened  records  of  time  after 
his  very  name  is  forgotten.  The  wife  forsaken ;  the 
mother  of  his  child  in  a  mad-house  ;  the  child  with 
that  taint  in  his  blood  ;  the  young  man  himself,  dead  ; 
his  murderer  a  wanderer ;  a  stricken  mother  and 
father — thus  widen  the  effects  of  a  single  wrong  till 
ages  are  burdened  with  the  story  and  generations 
visited  with  the  crime." 

Chatterton  was  rather  surprised  at  this  outburst 
from  the  usually  self-contained  lawyer,  but  all  the 
more  delighted,  crediting  the  unusual  emotion  to  his 
own  dramatic  recital. 


136  -4    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

"If  we  could  only  read  the  unwritten  history  of 
old  families,"  he  said  "  how  many  such  sermons 
there  would  be  found  to  point  a  moral.  Sermons  the 
more  telling  in  that  they  are  not  abstract  in  their  ap- 
plication. A  moral  worked  out  is  of  more  value  than 
a  moral  predicated.  Old  families  are  royal  archives 
which  hoard  the  added  experiences  of  the  ages." 

Perry  had  not  intended  to  help  mount  Mr.  Chatter- 
ton  on  his  hobby,  and  now  hastened  to  get  him  off. 
He,  therefore,  returned  to  the  subject  of  the  Chesters. 

"  The  poor  mother  and  the  father,  what  a  blow 
to  them  I " 

"Of  course,  it  was  terrible.  And  yet,  do  you 
know,  they  have  got  over  it  surprisingly  !  The  girl 
— Chatterton — was  morbidly  affected,  being  at  the 
time  only  thirteen,  that  impressionable  age  when 
emotions  are  polar  in  their  extremes.  As  for  the 
others,  they  have  readily  adjusted  themselves  to  the 
inevitable.  Strange  to  say,  the  very  circumstances  of 
the  boy's  death  mitigated  their  grief  at  the  fact  itself. 
In  Virginia,  to  be  killed  in  a  duel  is  to  be  completely 
absolved  from  sin.  To  my  cousin,  her  dead  boy 
is  a  dead  hero  against  whom  circumstances  were  un- 
relenting, and  who  at  last  succumbed  to  their  attack 
as  a  hero  should." 

Then,  rising  to  depart,  the  great  Chatterton  fired 
his  aphoristic  salute  :  "  But,  after  all,  why  wonder  at 
this  ?  To  almost  every  mother  the  pin-feathers  of  her 
gosling  are  swan's  down.  It  is  a  species  of  brevet 
self-gratulation,  which  is,  by  illogically  sentimental 
persons,  mistaken  for  full-ranked  unselfishness." 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  137 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

OUT  in  the  fields  the  grain  had  been  gathered  in. 
In  the  city  there  were  evidences  of  returning  life  to 
the  dark  stone  houses  which  for  three  or  four  months 
had  been  done  up  in  shutters  and  brown  holland,  and 
the  world  was  sixty  days  older. 

Perry  was  still  hard  at  work,  and  still  found  work 
hard.  Every  day  or  two  he  received  letters  from  Mr. 
Chatterton,  telling  him  of  his  experience  with  the 
Chesters.  These  letters  were  both  long  and  verbose, 
and  yet  Felix  welcomed  them,  for  they  told  him  of 
the  old  house,  the  General,  Mrs.  Chester,  Bud  and — 
Chatterton.  To  judge  from  his  own  report,  "  Cousin 
"William  "  had  made  a  good  impression.  He  had  been 
able,  he  wrote,  by  Machiavelian  diplomacy  to  stave  off 
discussion  as  to  the  estate  pending  that  as  to  the  in- 
ventions. 

For  these  he  showed  increasing  respect.  At  first 
he  had  written  of  them  in  a  tone  of  persiflage,  but  the 
tone  had  soon  changed,  and  at  last  there  was  no  ques- 
tion of  his  enthusiasm  but  only  as  to  the  best  terms 
he  could  make  with  the  inventor ;  and  proposals  and 
counter-proposals,  adjustments  and  re-adjustments, 
were  the  order  of  the  day.  Still,  as  yet  nothing  de- 
finite had  been  settled. 

One  afternoon,  weary  with  work,  Perry  was  about 
leaving  his  office  when  a  note  from  Mrs.  Denvers  was 
handed  him.  It  contained  merely  the  information 
of  her  return.  It  was  short,  and  so  lacking  in  vivacity 
that  it  left  upon  Perry's  mind  the  impression  that  all 


138  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

was  not  well  with  his  friend.  An  hour  later  he  was 
in  her  presence,  and  having  his  fears  confirmed — her 
face  bore  traces  of  care,  even  as  she  smiled  upon  him. 

"  And  so,  sir  knight,  too  busy  for  Newport  ? 
Well,  I  forgive  you.  To  tell  the  truth  you  did  not 
miss  much.  It  was  not  attractive.  The  ceaseless 
driving  up  and  down  the  avenue,  the  endless  vying, 
the  striving  for  display,  the  conspicuous  absence  of 
repose  and  ease  jarred  upon  the  nerves." 

"  Are  not  you  well  ? "  he  asked,  earnestly ;  then 
added,  "  Too  late  hours  and  too  little  rest,  I  fear." 

"No,  I  have  been  moderate  enough.  I  am  quite 
well,  I  assure  you.  Bather  depressed,  may  be,  but 
well." 

"  Can  a  friend  inquire  the  cause  of  the  depression  ?  " 

"  It  hardly  has  a  name.  Premonition  is  too  strong  ; 
and  yet  it  is  of  the  nature  of  a  foreboding.  But,  come, 
tell  me  of  your  trip  :  your  romantic,  mediaeval  trip." 

"It  was  rather  like  a  dream  of  a  past  age." 

"  And  of  fair  women  ?  You  see  you  can  not  travel 
incognito  !  I  have  had  my  clew  ;  the  big-eyed  girl," 
she  said. 

"  Like  Agassiz,  you  construct  a  whole  fish  if  you 
have  but  a  fin  ! " 

"  And  as  correctly  ?    Do  tell  me  about  the  people." 

Perry  smiled.  "That,"  he  said,  "is  no  easy  task. 
To  describe  them  would  be  to  do  them  seeming  injus- 
tice ;  for,  if  the  truth  were  told,  the  adjectives  would 
many  of  them  be  damaging,  and  yet  be  so  qualified  by 
nobler  ones  that  the  whole  would  seem  too  absurdly 
contradictory.  Imagine  irrelevance  made  attractive, 
prejudice  mistaken  for  patriotism,  improvidence  con- 
sidered a  class  distinction  and  poverty  worn  pictur- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  139 

esquely.  Their  virtues,  however,  are  unqualified.  They 
are  lavishly  hospitable  and  courteous  in  every  relation. 
It  is  a  happy-go-lucky  life  they  lead.  They  seem  to 
overtop  care  by  simply  ignoring  it.  Nothing  disturbs 
them  seriously  ;  they  are  never  really  surprised,  be- 
cause as  there  is  no  rule  there  can  be  no  exception. 
You  might  ride  your  horse  into  their  dining-room,  and 
feed  his  oats  to  him  from  the  punch-bowl,  without 
exciting  criticism." 

"  But  the  state  of  uncertainty  must  be  rather  wear- 
ing on  unaccustomed  nerves." 

"  On  the  contrary,  it  is  soothing.  One  seems  to 
realize  that  one  has  worried  and  bothered  one's  self  all 
one's  life  from  a  wholly  mistaken  idea  of  the  necessity. 
Like  the  lilies  of  the  field,  they  toil  not,  and  yet  they 
are  as  mysteriously  clothed.  To  be  sure,  providential 
intervention  seems  to  end  there,  and  the  want  of  the 
stitch  in  time  is  often  evidenced  by  the  palpable  nine  ; 
but  they  do  not  mind  the  nine,  so  it  does  not  really 
matter." 

"  And  the  girl,  is  she  handsome  ?" 
Perry  instantly  recalled  the  occasion  when  Chat- 
terton  had  asked  him  the  same  question  as  to  poor 
Barbara.     The  mental  absorption  made  a  precise  an- 
swer difficult. 

"  Yes,  quite  so.     That  is — oh  yes,  lovely." 
"  You  seem  to  have  some  difficulty  in  adjusting  the 
degree." 

"  It  is  as  difficult  as  to  describe  the  moral  qualities 

of  the  family.    She  would  be  almost  perfectly  beautiful 

were  it  not  for  a  look  of  discontent  she  usually  wears." 

"  Does  she  share  in  the  family  traits  ?  "  asked  Mrs. 

Denvers. 


14:0  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

"  Some  of  them,"  he  answered.  "  Her  direct 
common  sense,  however,  is  continually  battling  with 
waves  of  prejudice,  and  she  now  and  then  succeeds  in 
reaching  the  surface.  This  is  creditable,  as  common 
sense  is  as  rare  in  Braddox  as  are  strawberries  in  Jan- 
nary." 

"Do  you  know,  I  am  quite  prepared  to  find  you 
in  love  ?" 

"  My  heart  involved,  as  you  diagnosed  the  Mrs. 
Dare  episode  ?  " 

She  blushed  slightly  as  she  answered  :  "  One  bad 
shot  does  not  necessarily  argue  a  poor  marksman.  In 
the  present  instance  there  seems  to  be  peculiar  fitness. 
Large  eyes — you  see  they  appeal  to  me  as  an  impor- 
tant factor — some  temper  ;  prejudice  ;  struggling 
common  sense  ;  beauty ;  a  cloud  to  be  dissipated  ; 
unconventionality  ;  what  could  be  more  appropriate  ?  " 

"Nothing,"  he  answered,  smiling. 

"  You  are  not  to  return  to  Virginia  ?  " 

"  Not  unless  I  am  summoned  there  by  Mr.  Chat- 
terton." 

"Then  it  is  over,  the  romance,  I  mean?"  she 
asked. 

"  Yes,  the  romance  is  over,  presuming,  of  course, 
that  it  ever  began.  But  come,  do  tell  me  of  yourself. 
Excuse  insistance,  but  you  really  are  not  well,  or  else 
you  are  worried." 

"  Who  escapes  worry  ?  "  she  queried  ;  then  added, 
' '  There  are  none  too  high  and  none  too  humble  for 
the  attention  of  his  impartial  majesty,  Care  ! " 

"  You  will  not,  then,  tell  me  of  your  trouble  ?  "  he 
asked. 

"  Not  now,  my  friend  ;  the  secret  is  not  exclusively 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

my  own.  If  at  any  time  you  can  assist  me,  I  promise 
to  call  upon  you." 

He  had  to  rest  satisfied  with  this  answer,  and  left 
the  house,  anxious  and  depressed  on  her  account. 

The  next  morning  he  found  the  following  letter 
from  Mr.  Chatterton  awaiting  him  at  his  office. 

"  Congratulations,  my  dear  Perry,  are  in  order ; 
the  motor,  and  all  the  other  important  inventions,  are 
safely  patented.  It  has  taken  much  time  and  more 
patience.  I  have  pendulated,  with  clock-work  regu- 
larity, between  Washington  and  Braddox.  I  have 
been  not  a  little  bothered  by  that  firebrand,  Atherton 
Leigh.  From  the  first  he  appeared  to  have  constituted 
himself  censor  of  the  whole  affair,  and  sat  in  judg- 
ment on  my  every  move.  When  at  last  I  rebelled  at 
this,  he  glared  at  me  so  fiercely  that  I  instantly  col- 
lapsed, having  the  fear  of  poor  Donald's  fate  before  my 
eyes.  Now,  I  have  adopted  different  tactics,  and  they 
answer  admirably.  I  appear  to  consult  him  on  every 
point,  and  to  hang  my  decision  upon  the  verdict.  It 
is  as  good  as  a  play  to  watch  me  ramming  opinions 
down  his  throat,  for  them  to  emerge  again  as  his  own. 
We  are  now  sworn  friends,  and  it  serves  well  my  pur- 
pose, as  he  molds  my  cousin. 

"There  is  but  one  really  sensible  person  under  this 
leaky  roof,  and  that  is  little  Hose  Hetherinton.  Why 
did  not  you  tell  me  she  had  grown  so  pretty,  and 
was  that  rara  avis,  a  logical  woman  ?  As  to  the  girl 
Chatterton,  she  is  handsome,  but  too  proud  and  over- 
bearing. We  do  not  get  on  well  together.  Leigh  tells 
me — by  the  way,  he  admires  you  greatly  ;  says  you  are 
brave  ;  how  have  you  bewitched  him? — Where  was  I  ? 


142  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

Oh  yes — Leigh  tells  me  he  is  in  disgrace  with  Chatter- 
ton  for  having  advised  her  parents  to  accede  to  cer- 
tain offers  I  have  made.  This  brings  me  to  my  second 
item  of  news — there  are  three  in  all.  We  have  arrived 
at  a  basis  of  settlement  as  to  the  estate,  and  a  company 
is  to  be  formed  to  develop  the  inventions.  Need  I  tell 
you  that  I  had  to  use  diplomacy  ?  Suffice  it  now  to  say 
that  I  am  to  allow  the  use  of  this  place  to  my  cous- 
in, free  of  rent,  for  one  year.  If  by  that  time  my 
one-half  interest  in  the  patents  have  aggregated  me 
$15,000  profit,  Chatterton  is  to  belong  to  her ;  if 
not,  then  I  am  to  be  recognized  as  the  undisputed 
owner  of  the  land,  and  am  to  take  immediate  pos- 
session. The  General  will  devote  his  time  to  new 
inventions ;  I,  mine,  to  the  affairs  of  the  company. 
Even  now  the  General  is  busy  with  a  new  idea.  I  do 
not  exactly  understand  it,  but  it  is  to  do  something 
surprising  with  the  stalactite  and  stalagmite  found  in 
the  Luray  Cave.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  wish  he  would 
concentrate  himself  on  the  more  practical  inventions, 
but,  as  Cousin  Mary  says,  it  is  useless  to  try  and  curb 
or  direct  genius.  This,  my  dear  Perry,  is  a  mere  out- 
line of  the  plan  ;  does  it  command  your  approval  ? 
When  we  meet  in  New  York  you  must  draw  the  thing 
up  in  shape,  and  have  me  amply  secured.  In  the 
mean  time  we  have  drafted  a  memorandum  here,  and 
have  it  signed  in  duplicate. 

"  And  now  for  my  last  bit  of  news.  Prepare  to  be 
surprised — the  whole  Chester  family,  and  retinue,  go 
to  New  York  with  me  next  Tuesday  1  All  of  them, 
mind  you;  not  even  his  sable  highness,  Dandy,  is  to  be 
left !  Atherton  Leigh  goes  also.  The  plan  is  mine  ; 
I  claim  all  the  merit  of  having  invented  it.  The 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  143 

General  is  absolutely  convincing  when  he  explains  his 
discoveries.  He  shows  shrewdness,  too,  retaining 
enough  information,  in  regard  to  each  patent,  to  pre- 
vent it  being  pirated.  So  particular  is  he  in  this,  that 
even  I  am  unenlightened.  Get  him  once  in  New 
York,  with  his  models,  and  we  will  soon  have  to 
double  our  capital  stock. 

"  Is  not  it  a  stroke  of  genius  to  take  the  family 
North  ?  Think  what  a  sensation  they  will  make  ! 
They  will  be  all  the  rage  ;  and,  what  an  advertisement 
for  our  project ! 

"  By  this  same  mail  I  am  writing  to  engage  offices. 
Everything  is  to  be  done  on  a  large  scale.  I  am  also 
writing  to  several  newspaper  men  I  know,  to  hint  of 
the  coming  wonders.  You,  too,  can  spread  the  report, 
if  you  will.  There  is  nothing  like  arresting  the  atten- 
tion of  your  modern  Athenian  with  some  new  thing. 
I  am  as  ever, 

•'Yours,  sincerely, 

"  WILLIAM  CHATTEKTON', 
"  Of  Chatterton." 

"P.S. — You  see  I  use  the  name  of  my  estate  in 
connection  with  my  own.  Why  not  ?  There  have 
been  Chattertons  of  Chatterton  for  over  two  hundred 
years.  I  am  swayed  by  contending  emotions  ;  on  the 
one  side  an  hereditary  estate,  on  the  other,  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  ;  which  would  I  prefer  ?  Of  course, 
the  money  alone  is  no  equivalent,  but  the  possession 
of  the  estate  means  internecine  war  between  the  Ches- 
ters  and  myself,  if  experience  counts  for  anything ! 
By  the  way,  I  had  almost  forgotten  !  Mrs.  Chester 
needs  an  apartment ;  will  you  do  what  you  can  to 


144  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

secure  one  for  her  ?  Of  course,  you  must  not  take  too 
much  trouble  ;  employ  an  agent,  or  something  of  that 
sort.  I  have  said  you  would  be  quite  willing  to  do 
this,  so,  pray,  do  not  discredit  my  assumption.  Take 
the  apartment  for  the  winter  ;  do  not  mind  expense. 
I  have  loaned  the  General  the  wherewithal  to  carry 
on  the  winter  campaign.  Miss  Chatterton  rebelled 
dreadfully  at  this  ;  there  was  quite  a  scene  ;  but  Mrs. 
Chester  had  her  way,  and  by  this  same  mail  a  check 
goes  to  the  General's  credit  at  my  bank. 


To  say  that  this  news  surprised  Felix  would  be  to 
vastly  underrate  the  sensation  with  which  he  received 
it.  Here  was  a  development  which  he  had  never 
thought  of  as  within  the  bounds  of  possibility. 

Chafcterton  Chester  coming  !  He  was  positively 
startled  at  recognizing  the  feeling  this  knowledge 
awakened  within  him  !  He  was  aware  of  an  under- 
current of  rare  emotion  coursing  through  his  con- 
sciousness. His  heart  would  insist  upon  asserting 
itself,  and  no  unspontaneous  self-reasoning  could 
check  it. 

The  next  few  days  were  busy  ones  for  Perry.  Be- 
sides his  usual  duties  he  now  had  the  added  one  of 
seeking  quarters  for  his  Virginians.  Of  course,  he 
was  determined  to  do  the  best  in  his  power  for  them  ; 
had  not  they  been  most  hospitable  to  him  under  uncon- 
genial circumstances  ?  And  yet,  it  was  tedious  work. 
One  apartment  was  too  large,  another  too  small,  still 
another  badly  lighted.  At  last,  in  despair,  he  repaired 
to  Mrs.  Denvers  for  advice  on  the  evening  of  the 
second  day  of  his  search. 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  145 

To  his  disappointment,  he  did  not  find  his  friend 
alone  ;  Mrs.  Van  Skoik  Underdunk  was  there. 

Perry  was  a  favorite  with  Mrs.  Underdunk.  She 
said  he  was  solid  and  reliable,  "  And,  my  dear,"  she 
once  announced  to  a  familiar  friend,  "one  knows 
where  to  find  him.  I  hate  people  for  whom  you  have 
to  keep  a  May  smile  or  a  December  freeze  on  tap,  to 
be  ready  for  their  moods."  Therefore,  Mrs.  Under- 
dunk received  Felix  kindly  when  he  turned  to  her 
after  having  been  welcomed  by  their  hostess. 

"  And  pray  where  have  you  been,  my  Samson  ? 
Pursuing  the  Philistines  all  summer,  or  lifting  the 
Gates  of  Gaza  ?  " 

"  Eather,  pulling  the  house  about  his  ears,  I  fear  ! " 
smiled  Mrs.  Denvers. 

"My  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Underdunk,  "you  talk  in 
parables,  and  crush  me  with  my  own  metaphor." 

But  Mrs.  Denvers  did  not  explain.  Perry  said  : 
"  I  have  worked  at  the  treadmill.  That  is,  with  the 
exception  of  a  ten  days'  vacation.  I  passed  it  in  Vir- 
ginia." 

"  In  Virginia  !    "What  possessed  you  to  do  that  ?  " 

"I  had  to  go  on  business." 

"  Virginia,"  repeated  Mrs.  Underdunk,  pensively, 
as  though  the  idea  seemed  novel ;  "  how  long  it 
seems  since  I  was  there  !  Not  for  years  I  It  was 
rather  a  pleasant  place,  then.  Primitive,  in  certain 
ways,  but  yet  attractive ;  and  the  people  were  hos- 
pitable." 

"They  are  the  same  to-day,"  responded  Perry, 

slightly  wondering  that  he  seemed  identified  with  the 

old  State,  after  so  short  a  sojourn.     Turning  to  Mrs. 

Denvers,  he  added  :  "  I  am  in  a  quandary,  and  have 

10 


146  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

come  to  you  for  advice.  Possibly  you,  too,  Mrs.  Un- 
derdunk,  can  assist  me.  You  see,  I  confidently  rely 
upon  the  sympathy  and  good-nature  of  both.  My 
Virginia  friends  are  coming  here  for  the  winter,  and 
I  have  been  asked  to  secure  a  furnished  apartment 
for  them." 

"  Coming  here  1 "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Denvers,  inter- 
estedly ;  "  surely  not  all  of  them  ?  " 

"  All  of  them.  Let  me  give  you  the  catalogue  : 
General  and  Mrs.  Chester  ;  Miss  Chester  ;  Miss  Hether- 
inton  ;  a  child  ;  Atherton  Leigh  ;  Dandy,  the  colored 
factotum  ;  and  sundry  Dinahs  and  Malvinas." 

"  One  moment,  you  good  people  ! "  exclaimed 
Mrs.  Underdunk  ;  <l  who  are  they  ?" 

Mrs.  Denvers  took  upon  herself  to  explain. 
"  Mrs.  Chester  is  a  cousin  of  the  great  Chatterton, 
the  person  over  whose  head  his  uncle  passed  him 
the  estate.  Have  not  you  heard  the  story  ?  " 

"  Heard  it,  my  dear !  Do  not  I  know  William 
Chatterton  ?  Heard  it  ?  Why,  at  a  Polliver  Jones 
dinner,  last  winter — the  one  given  to  Captain  Some- 
thingoff,  of  the  Russian  navy — Chatterton  took  me 
in.  Heard  of  it !  I  ate  it  with  the  soup  ;  drank  it 
down  with  the  champagne,  and  sipped  it  anew  with 
the  coffee  !  '  The  ancestral  acres,  really  patriarchal, 
you  know  ! '  And  so,  these  people  are  relatives  of  his. 
They  come  of  good  stock,  then  ;  only,  it  is  to  be  hoped 
they  do  not  carry  their  houses  upon  their  backs,  as 
does  that  tortoise,  their  cousin.  I  can  help  you,  Mr. 
Perry.  My  niece  Mrs.  Van  Skoik,  is  ordered  to 
Florida,  for  her  health  ;  and,  only  yesterday,  made  up 
her  mind  to  rent  her  apartment.  It  is  next  to  mine, 
and  is  quite  gorgeous.  I  do  not  know  what  she  asks 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  147 

for  it ;  only,  you  may  be  quite  sure  it  will  be  enough. 
Van  Skoik  always  gets  the  full  value  out  of  everything. 
Still,  your  friends  are  in  luck,  as  it  is  an  exceptional 
chance." 

Mrs.  Denvers  expressed  herself  as  really  delighted. 
She  was  of  the  few  who  enter  genuinely  into  the  joys 
and  sorrows  of  even  their  friends'  friends,  unto  the 
third  and  fourth  generation. 

After  some  further  talk  it  was  arranged  that  Felix 
should  see  the  apartment  on  the  following  day. 

"And  now,"  said  Mrs.  Underdunk,  "since  we  are 
through  with  business,  tell  me  of  my  prospective 
neighbors.  Remember,  I  shall  demand  the  assurance 
that  they  will  entertain  me,  before  I  give  my  final 
consent  to  let  them  into  my  inner  circle.  Tell  me 
them  piecemeal."  And  she  placidly  prepared  to  check 
them  off  on  her  fingers. 

"  I  am  afraid  I  can  not  do  them  justice,"  said  Perry, 
at  once  realizing  that  Chatterton  would  have  to  be 
described,  and  shrinking  from  the  task. 

"  Nonsense,  man,  attend  to  your  catechism.  Gen- 
eral Chester  ?" 

Felix  saw  there  was  no  escape.  "A  gentleman  of 
the  old  school.  Handsome,  dignified,  and  courtly ; 
slow  of  movement,  and  slower  of  speech.  An  enthusi- 
astic inventor,  whose  discoveries,  however,  have  as  yet 
been  hardly  tested." 

Mrs.  Underdunk  counted  off  the  General,  on  her 
thumb,  as  she  said,  laconically,  '*'  Mrs.  Chester  ?" 

Perry  again  hesitated.  Finally,  he  said:  "Vision- 
ary ;  rather  unreasonable,  and  an  invalid  ;  but,  not 
always  an  invalid." 

The  index-finger  went  down  ;  "  Miss  Chester  ?  " 


148  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

Here  Mrs.  Denvers  interposed,  smiling  :  "To  spare 
his  blushes,  Mrs.  Underdunk,  I  will  describe  Miss 
Chester.  She  is  delightful ;  beautiful,  but  not  insipid J 
a  will  of  her  own,  but  common  sense  in  a  measure  ; 
prejudiced,  but  not  obstinate — in  fact,  unconvention- 
ally attractive.  Then,  she  has  large  brown — are  not 
they  brown  ? — eyes." 

Mrs.  Underdunk  nodded  approval  of  Chatterton 
even  as  she  registered  her  with  the  middle  finger ; 
"  The  girl — the  other  one — what's  her  name  ?" 

"Bose,  otherwise  Bud,  Hetherinton,"  resumed 
Perry,  glad,  once  again,  to  be  in  shallow  water,  "  is  a 
demure,  sweet,  busy,  sensible  little  thing ;  she  will 
charm  you  both.  She  has  the  quaintest  and  most 
precise  ideas  ;  and  thinks  as  reading-men  think,  but 
with  her  thinking  sifted  through  a  kindly  nature 
before  it  reaches  you  in  musical  tones.  To  discover 
her  at  Chatterton  Hall  was  the  crowning  paradox  of 
a  not  un paradoxical  experience." 

When  Bud  was  duly  recorded,  Mrs.  Underdunk 
asked  :  "  And  the  man  with  the  melodious  name  ?" 

"  Atherton  Leigh  is  psychologically  indescribable. 
Physically,  he  is  certainly  the  handsomest  man  of  his 
type  I  have  ever  seen.  He  is  magnetic,  even  though 
you  can  not  but  feel  he  is  deficient  in  moral  quali- 
ties." 

"And  that  ends  the  list?"  queried  Mrs.  Under- 
dunk, dismissing  Leigh  airily  with  her  little  finger. 

"Yes,  that  ends  the  list;  unless  you  count  the 
child  Beggy,  and  Dandy." 

"  I  regret  there  is  a  child.  He  will  be  sure  to 
make  my  days  a  burden  and  my  nights  hideous.  Who 
is  Dandy  ?  " 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

"  A  negro,  with  a  heart  as  big  as  his  burly  form  ; 
a  saint  in  silhouette  ! " 

"  Bravo  ! "  applauded  Mrs.  Underdunk.  "  You  are 
epigramatic.  Yes,  your  assortment  will  do.  I  es- 
pecially like  the  old  man  and  the  girls.  Your  young 
man  seems  rather  a  nasty  combination.  Of  course  he 
is  in  love  with  one  or  both  of  the  girls  ?  " 

"  Certainly  with  one,"  replied  Perry,  reluctantly, 
indignant  with  himself  at  the  uncontrollable  flush 
which  he  felt  mounting  to  his  forehead. 

"Oh  !"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Denvers,  "so  that  is  the 
lay  of  the  land  ! " 

"  I  did  not  say  which  it  was,"  said  Perry,  anxious 
to  make  a  diversion,  but  foolishly  barring  it. 

Mrs.  Denvers  laughed,  a  little  cynically,  perhaps, 
for  her.  "  Did  not  you  ?  Oh,  you  men,  you  cer- 
tainly are  deficient  in  the  finer  arts  ! " 

"  And  what,  pray,"  asked  Mrs.  Underdnuk,  "  brings 
the  menagerie  here  ?  " 

"Mr.  William  Chatterton,"  replied  Perry,  the 
while  resenting  the  ignominious  comparison  which 
had  accompanied  the  question.  Then,  recalling  Mr. 
Chatterton's  request  to  advertise  the  coming  Virginians, 
and  knowing  no  better  medium  than  Mrs.  IJnderdunk, 
he  added,  perfunctorily  :  "  As  I  have  said,  General 
Chester  is  an  inventor.  If  his  discoveries  perform 
half  that  he  claims  for  them,  a  colossal  fortune  is  as- 
sured to  all  interested.  Mr.  Chatterton  is  interested. 
I  hear  there  is  talk  of  a  company  forming." 

"Mrs.  Underdunk  brightened  visibly;  "Is  it 
really  a  good  chance  to  invest ;  would  you  advise  me 
to  take  an  interest  ?  " 

"I  never  advise  under  such  circumstances.     At 


150  -4    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

most,  I  say  what  I  would  do  were  the  case  my 
own." 

"And,  in  the  present  instance  ?" 

"I  should  regard  the  large  percentage  of  risk." 

"Yes,  but,  man,  think  of  the  delight  of  putting 
in  pennies  and  taking  out  pounds  !" 

"  I  think  rather  of  the  much  more  likely  result  of 
putting  in  pounds  and  taking  out  only  experience. 
However,  I  am  not  a  speculator.  To  him  who  takes 
a  dozen  chances,  and  can  afford  to  have  eleven  go 
wrong  provided  he  is  successful  on  the  twelfth,  these 
heavy  risks  may  be  attractive.  Besides,  to  me  the 
price  of  success  is  too  high." 

"  I  entirely  agree  with  Mr.  Perry,"  said  Mrs.  Den- 
vers,  with  much  earnestness.  "  The  most  lavish  gifts 
of  fortune  are  dearly  bought  with  months  of  cankering 
care,  and  at  the  expense  of  shortened  lives ;  these 
seem  the  payments  demanded  as  toll  for  a  short  cut  to 
fortune." 

Felix  was  surprised  at  the  earnestness.  What  could 
she  know  of  such  things  ?  Her  path  had  been  almost 
choked  with  the  growth  of  luxuriant  success.  Mr. 
Denvers  was  reputed  one  of  Fortune's  favorites  in  Wall 
Street. 

Half  an  hour  later,  after  Mrs.  Underdunk  had  been 
driven  off  in  her  brougham,  Perry  said,  as  he  bade 
Mrs.  Denvers  good-night  :  "  I  shall  not  be  fully  con- 
tented till  you  are  again  your  old  self.  You  have  told 
me  I  am  not  to  be  importunate  ;  but,  indeed,  I  think 
the  restriction  hard.  Were  the  cases  reversed  you  are 
the  first  person  to  whom  I  should  turn." 

This  pleased  Mrs.  Denvers  ;  still,  she  was  not  con- 
vinced. "Are  you  quite  sure  ?" 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

"Quite  sure/'  he  replied,  with  emphasis,  and  she 
was  satisfied.  More  satisfied  than  if  there  had  been 
accompanying  asseverations. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  dreamily,  her  hand  extended  to 
bid  him  adieu,  "  we  shall  see.  I  may  confide  in  you 
sooner  than  you  expect ;  but,  oh,  pray  that  the  neces- 
sity may  be  averted  !  " 

Then  he  knew,  and  was  unhappy  in  the  knowledge, 
that  some  calamity  was  overhanging  this  brave,  loyal 
woman ;  and,  with  perspicacity  sharpened  by  true 
friendship,  he  guessed  its  nature. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  eventful  Tuesday  was  at  hand,  and  Perry, 
released  from  the  pressure  of  work  by  the  return  of 
his  partners,  was  at  the  Jersey  City  station,  awaiting 
the  arrival  of  the  Virginians. 

Mrs.  Van  Skoik's  apartment  had  proved  to  be 
very  satisfactory,  had  been  engaged  on  the  spot,  and 
was  now  in  complete  readiness  for  the  new  tenants. 
Felix  had  pressed  Mrs.  Denvers  into  the  service,  and 
her  advice  and  her  deft  fingers  had  respectively  guided 
the  necessary  preparations,  and  arranged  the  gorgeous 
roses  which  owed  their  presence  there  to  Perry's 
thoughtfulness.  And  now  that  the  hour  was  at  hand 
he-  was  more  agitated  than  he  would  have  been  willing 
to  admit. 

His  position,  he  told  himself,  was  ambiguons. 

To  part  with  a  woman  at  ten  o'clock  on  a  June 


152  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

night,  asserting  that  their  paths  should  soon  again 
cross  •  to  meet  her  unexpectedly  on  the  same  spot,  an 
hour  later,  and  there  go  through  with  a  scene  tragic  in 
its  intensity  ;  to  leave  her  the  next  morning  without 
a  word  in  regard  to  that  scene,  and  the  same  day  to 
hear  that  which  must  forever  associate  her  in  his 
mind  with  an  unalterable  sense  of  disappointment, 
and  yet,  to  deck  her  apartment,  for  so  he  mentally 
styled  it,  with  roses,  and  go  to  the  train  to  meet  her  ! 
How  should  he  bear  himself  ?  Eagerness  would  imply 
too  much  in  one  direction,  and  reserve  too  much  in  the 
other. 

In  reality,  he  overrated  the  difficulty  of  the  situa- 
tion, for  he  made  the  mistake  of  supposing  Chatterton 
understood  that  his  position  toward  her  had  changed. 
He  argued  for  her  a  guilty  conscience,  and  was  satis- 
fied it  had  told  her  why  he  had  been  silent,  even  if 
Atherton  Leigh  had  not  forestalled  the  monitor. 

But  here  was  the  train. 

The  huge  life-like  engine  glided  slowly  in,  and  came 
to  a  stand-still,  with  a  final  snort  of  satisfaction.  A 
cloud  of  passengers  instantly  issued  from  the  train 
with  typical  American  haste.  Large  and  small  women; 
fat  and  thin  women  ;  ugly  and  pretty  women,  but  no 
Chatterton. 

And  now-  the  crowd  was  lessening.  They  must 
have  missed  the  train — no,  there  they  were  1 

Instantly  Perry  recalled  Mrs.  Underdnnk's  hated 
comparison — the  menagerie  !  How  he  wished  the  re- 
semblance had  not  been  suggested,  it  was  so  absurdly 
and  yet  calumniously  pertinent. 

He  hurried  forward,  full  of  hearty  greeting  for 
them  and  of  inward  reproach  for  himself.  Do  what 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  153 

he  would  he  could  not  rid  himself  of  Mrs.TJnderdunk's 
metaphor,  to  which,  by  a  not  unnatural  association  of 
ideas,  his  own  sense  of  the  ridiculous  had  added  another 
one — Noah  disembarking  at  Ararat ! 

There  was  General  Chester,  stately  and  patri- 
archal, wrapped  about  in  a  gray  cloak  of  imposing 
dimensions.  By  his  side,  Mrs.  Chester ;  bland,  con- 
descending, and,  in  contemplating  her  own  grandeur, 
temporarily  forgetful  of  invalidism.  Then  came  Mr. 
Chatterton  and  Bud  ;  he,  patronizing  and  gracious ; 
she,  excited  and  pleased.  Next  followed  Chatterton, 
leading  Reggy  by  the  hand  ;  reserved,  shy,  looking 
from  under  downcast  eyelids,  and,  as  Felix  impul- 
sively owned  to  himself,  more  lovely  than  even  his 
memory  had  painted  her. 

Behind  these  Perry  saw  a  group  of  dusky  atten- 
dants, Nubian-like  in  their  gay  turbans,  headed  by 
Dandy,  smiling  from  ear  to  ear,  from  amid  a  load  of 
wraps  and  bundles.  Atherton  was  not  to  be  seen. 

Felix  was  most  warmly  received.  The  General 
was  courteous ;  his  wife  gracious ;  Bud  hearty ;  Mr. 
Chatterton  demonstrative,  and  Chatterton  sedate. 
On  the  face  upon  which  his  eyes  were  fixed,  Perry 
saw  no  trace  of  consciousness  that  their  meeting  was 
an  awkward  event,  not  a  glance  that  spoke  of  con- 
science disturbed.  There  was,  to  be  sure,  a  certain 
shy  reserve  in  her  manner,  but  the  memory  of  the  ro- 
mantic episode  on  the  moon-glorified  porch  accounted 
naturally  for  the  constraint.  His  sense  of  restraint 
vanished  instantly,  as  miasmatic  mists  vanish  before 
the  genial  sun.  Indeed,  he  had  to  remind  himself 
more  than  once,  on  the  ferry-boat,  that  he  was  irrev- 
ocably disappointed  in  this  girl.  "Within  the  influ- 


154  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

ence  of  the  aggressive  honesty  which  this  frank  young 
person  unconsciously  diffused  as  an  atmosphere  about 
her,  it  was  difficult  to  remember  that  he  had  a  griev- 
ance, even  though  it  had  been  so  impossible  to  forget 
it  in  the  solitude  of  his  uncompromising  analysis  of 
the  situation. 

Chancing  to  be  separated  for  a  few  moments  from 
the  others,  Felix  came  unexpectedly  upon  Atherton. 
Without  a  moment's  hesitation  he  held  out  his  hand. 
"  As  friends,  I  hope,  Mr.  Leigh  ?  " 

"As  friends,"  responded  the  other,  rather  stiffly  ; 
and  the  terms  of  the  armistice  were  signed. 

Much  time  was  spent  in  disposing  of  the  large 
party  in  the  carriages  provided  for  them.  Possibly 
it  was  on  account  of  his  privilege  as  major  domo  that 
Perry  was  finally  seated  in  the  one  which  contained 
Chatterton,  the  other  occupants  being  Bud  and  Keg- 
gy.  The  child  was  wild  with  excitement,  and  clam- 
bered over  Felix  continually,  notwithstanding  Bud's 
repeated  remonstrances. 

"Are  you  glad  to  be  in  New  York,  Miss  Ches- 
ter?" 

She  looked  up  quickly,  a  pained  expression  on  her 
face.  "  Not  under  the  circumstances,"  she  answered. 
"  I  was  opposed  to  coming — in  fact,  to  the  basis  of 
negotiation  with  Cousin  William.  It  is,  I  think,  un- 
wise to  take  success  for  granted."  Then  she  added, 
in  a  lighter  tone,  "  Otherwise,  I  am  delighted.  You 
know  I  have  never  been  in  a  city  larger  than  Rich- 
mond. But,  do  tell  me,  are  the  streets  always  as 
crowded  and  as  dirty  ?  " 

Felix  smiled  as  he  answered  :  "  There  is  an  inter- 
regnum between  the  death  of  King  Confusion  to-day 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  155 

and  the  succession  of  the  heir-apparent  to-morrow. 
As  to  the  dirt,  it  is,  I  regret  to  say,  as  continuously 
with  us  as  the  poor." 

Bud  was  leaning  half  out  of  the  window.  Sud- 
denly she  said  : 

"What  is  that,  Mr.  Perry  ?"  pointing  to  a  whi- 
lom church  which  had  in  the  whirligig  of  time  de- 
generated to  the  more  sordid  uses  of  a  bank.  "  Is  it 
the  cote-house  ? "  How  delightfully  inappropriate 
it  all  seemed  to  Perry  !  These  yiolets  of  the  woods  had 
not  yet  lost  their  country  fragrance. 

Once  on  Fifth  Avenue,  the  girls  were  entirely  ab- 
sorbed in  the  toilets,  and  the  strange  sights  and 
sounds  of  the  great  city  were  forgotten. 

At  length  the  carriage  turned  into  Madison  Ave- 
nue, and  stopped  in  front  of  a  huge  apartment  house. 

"  Is  this  where  we  are  to  live  ?  "  asked  Chatter- 
ton.  "  Why,  it  is  like  a  palace  ;  and  mercy,  how 
high  !  See,  Bud,  there  are  nine  or  ten  stories.  Sure- 
ly, Mr.  Perry,  we  are  not  to  live  at  the  top,  are  we  ? " 

Felix  laughed.  "  Oh,  no,"  he  said,  "  You  are  up 
only  one  flight." 

A  few  moments  more  the  whole  party  was  assem- 
bled in  the  drawing-room,  and  examining  it  after 
their  several  fashions. 

Mrs.  Chester  was  languidly  interested.  She  had 
all  the  manner  of  one  to  whom  satin  furniture  and 
Turkish  hangings  were  as  familiar  as  the  other  things 
for  which  custom  has  sated  the  appetite  while  yet 
making  them  indispensable. 

"I  hope,  Mr.  Perry,"  she  said,  "  that  the  kitchen 
and  servants'  department  are  extensive  ?" 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  miss  Virginia  dimensions," 


156  4-    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

interposed  Mr.  Chatterton.  "  Space  is  an  expensive 
article  here,  and  the  problem  seems  to  be  how  to 
spend  the  most  money  on  the  least  surface  ;  somewhat 
in  the  spirit  which  prompts  painstaking  prigs  to  en- 
grave the  Declaration  of  Independence  on  a  twenty- 
five-cent  piece." 

"As  New  York  apartments  go,"  answered  Perry, 
ignoring  Mr.  Chatterton's  contribution  to  the  conver- 
sation, "  you  will  find  this  one  exceptionally  well  pro- 
vided. A  friend  of  mine  kindly  looked  into  the  de- 
tails for  me." 

"  Mrs.  Denvers  ! "  exclaimed  Mr.  Chatterton,  "  I'll 
bet  a  farthing.  Come,  man,  do  not  look  so  black. 
Mrs.  Denvers,  Cousin  Chatterton,"  turning  to  the 
girl,  "is  the  most  recherche  woman  in  New  York, 
and  Mr.  Perry's  intimate  friend.  He  is  the  envy  of 
all  the  bachelors  and  of  half  of  the  married  men  at 
the  clubs.  Why,  one  smile  from  Mrs.  Denvers  makes 
a  man  fashionable,  and  our  friend  here  fairly  basks  in 
them  ! " 

Chatterton  did  not  answer.  She  could  not  at  the 
moment  find  words  which  seemed  suitable,  and  won- 
dered at  her  unusual  unreadiness. 

Perry  was  rather  disgusted  with  Mr.  Chatterton. 
To  think  that  this  man  dared  assume  with  these 
strangers  the  patronizingly  flippant  tone  which  if 
employed  to  others  more  versed  in  the  ways  of  the 
world  would  have  subjected  him  to  stony  stares  and 
to  future  avoidance.  Such  tilting  from  the  perpen- 
dicular of  good  taste  antagonized  Perry  infinitely 
more  than  his  pomposity  and  grandiloquence. 

Possibly,  however,  Felix  was  a  little  unjust  to  Mr. 
Chatterton.  He  may  have  only  intended  to  impress 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  157 

Mrs.  Chester,  and  so  reconcile  her  to  imagined  short- 
comings in  the  apartment  by  stamping  the  whole  with 
fashionable  approval.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  certainly 
had  that  result,  and  thereafter  the  invalid  was  conde- 
scendingly satisfied  with  her  immediate  surroundings. 

Two  or  three  hours  later  found  the  newcomers  at 
Delmonico's,  dining  with  Perry.  On  the  whole,  Felix 
was  both  surprised  and  pleased  with  his  Virginians. 
To  be  sure,  they  were  unfashionably  clad  and  rather 
suggestive  of  rusticity,  but  their  host  cared  for  none 
of  these  things.  What  pleased  him  was  the  adapta- 
bility they  one  and  all  proved  they  possessed.  This 
was  the  more  charming  as  it  was  unaccompanied  by 
affectation  or  evidence  of  self -consciousness ;  save, 
possibly,  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Chester. 

Perry  was  seated  between  Mrs.  Chester  and  Chat- 
terton,  dividing  his  time  between  listening  to  the  re- 
cital of  the  greatness  of  the  former's  ancestors,  when 
the  South  was  in  its  glory,  and  answering  delightfully 
unsophisticated  questions  from  the  latter. 

But  all  things  must  have  an  end,  and  this  meal 
was  no  exception.  There  was  a  short  walk  back  to 
the  apartment,  a  few  words  of  parting,  and  then  Felix 
returned  to  his  rooms  carrying  with  him  the  memory 
of  one  speech  which  had  come  to  disturb  his  equa- 
nimity. Had  it  been  the  product  of  absolute  inno- 
cence or  of  guile  ?  And  yet  the  words  had  been  few  ; 
Chatterton  had  asked  the  name  of  a  certain  hand- 
some, stately  girl,  to  whom  Perry  had  spoken  on  leav- 
ing Delmonico's.  He  had  given  the  desired  infor_ 
mation,  and  had  added  that  she  was  engaged  to  be 
married  to  a  man  much  older  than  herself ;  a  hasty 
engagement,  entered  into  on  very  short  acquaintance. 


158  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

His  companion  had  answered  :  "  I  had  supposed  such, 
injudicious  engagements  were  confined  to  our  section 
of  the  country." 


CHAPTER  XY. 

POPULAKITY  depends  upon  unknown  conditions. 
What  seemingly  attracts  in  one  person,  apparently 
repels  in  another.  The  adjustment  of  the  necessary 
qualities  is  evidently  the  result  of  chance. 

The  Chesters  acquired  public  favor  ;  they  became 
at  once  the  fashion.  Mr.  Chatterton  was  delighted  ; 
both  because  the  result  justified  his  prediction  and 
because  it  advanced  his  plans.  With  the  wisdom  of 
a  born  diplomat  he  became  more  and  more  reserved 
as  to  the  proposed  new  company  as  public  interest 
deepened,  tilt  at  last  it  was  difficult  to  make  him  an- 
swer even  the  most  general  questions. 

The  General  was  easily  induced  to  be  reticent,  as 
he  was  persuaded  that  capital  only  awaited  the  open- 
ing of  the  sluice-gate  to  flood  the  enterprise,  and  that 
the  longer  the  gate  was  kept  closed  the  greater  the 
pressure. 

The  preparations  for  the  event  which  was  to  startle 
the  financial  world  continued,  notwithstanding  the 
disinclination  to  accept  subscriptions.  Gorgeous 
offices  were  secured  at  a  fabulous  rent.  There  were 
general  offices  and  special  offices.  The  directors'  room 
was  a  most  gaudy  spot.  A  velvet  carpet  deadened  the 
footfalls,  and  luxuriously  cushioned  chairs  surround- 
de  a  centre-table  provided  with  the  most  complete  as- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  159 

sortment  of  stationary,  all  marked  with  the  name  of 
the  company,  stamped  in  many  colors  ;  and  yet  not  a 
share  of  the  stock  had  been  subscribed. 

A  day  came,  however,  when  the  pressure  could  be 
no  longer  resisted,  and  the  subscription  -  book  was 
opened. 

The  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  represented  by  two  thousand 
shares  of  the  par  value  of  one  hundred  dollars  each. 
Of  this  General  Chester  and  Mr.  Chatterton  reserved 
in  payment  of  the  patents  eight  hundred  shares  of 
paid-up  stock — four  hundred  each. 

The  other  original  subscribers  received  their  stock 
in  blocks  of  ten  shares  each  ;  no  one  subscriber  taking 
more  than  ten  such  blocks.  Subscribers  to  pay  twen- 
ty-five per  cent  at  once,  and  the  balance  of  their  sub- 
scriptions to  be  subject  to  call ;  with  the  understand- 
ing, however,  that  upon  payment  of  sixty  per  cent  of 
the  whole  they  were  to  receive  their  certificates  of 
paid-up  stock.  The  articles  of  incorporation  provided 
that  all  the  inventions  of  the  General,  past  and  to 
come,  were  to  be  the  exclusive  property  of  the  com- 
pany. In  enumerating  those  already  developed,  the 
question  of  the  churn  came  up  ;  but  the  General  in- 
dulgently insisted  upon  it  being  patented  in  the  name 
of  the  inventor,  and  therefore  the  records  at  Wash- 
ington bore  evidence  to  the  fact  that  Chatterton  Ches- 
ter claimed  it  as  her  own  invention,  to  which  fact 
the  Government's  letters  patent  bore  testimony. 

The  incorporators  of  the  "  Braddox  Patents  Com- 
pany "  were  General  Chester,  Mr.  Chatterton,  Alger- 
non Clyde,  General  Battlescar,  Mr.  Dodruff,  Mr. 
Pringle,  and  Atherton  Leigh — the  last  at  General 


160  -^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

Chester's  instance — and  these  gentlemen  were  also 
elected  the  board  of  directors  at  the  first  meeting. 
The  officers  were  :  General  Chester,  President ;  Mr. 
William  Chatterton,  Secretary  and  Treasurer.  The 
attorneys  of  the  company  were  Dodruff,  Pringle,  and 
Perry. 

Within  twelve  hours  after  the  subscription-book 
was  opened  the  capital  stock  was  all  subscribed. 
Nothing  could  exceed  Mr.  Chatterton's  exultation. 

The  General  bore  his  triumph  becomingly,  and 
was  thereby  in  nowise  changed  from  the  deliberate, 
courteous,  sleepy-mannered,  old-fashioned  gentleman 
of  yore.  Mrs.  Chester  was  superb.  Success  sat  upon 
her  shoulders  as  gracefully  as  though  she  had  been 
born  in  the  purple.  Chatterton  alone  was  not  per- 
suaded. She  seldom  referred  to  the  affair,  but  seemed 
to  be  attempting  to  forget  her  forebodings  in  the  gay- 
ety  of  her  social  life.  Now  and  then,  however,  she 
would  catch  sight  of  Perry's  grave,  composed  face, 
and  her  own  would  respond  with  a  sudden  soberness 
of  expression  which  spoke  plainly  of  the  unexpressed 
sympathy  which  existed  between  these  two. 

The  young  Virginian  exotic  soon  became  a  social 
success.  Besides  her  personal  attractions  she  had  the 
advantages  of  novelty.  Added  to  this,  she  was 
launched  under  exceptionally  favorable  circumstances  ; 
Mrs.  Denvers  and  Mrs.  Underdunk  had  undertaken 
to  stand  her  social  godmothers,  and  had  respect  to 
their  vows. 

Chatterton  had  been  at  first  rather  shy  of  Mrs. 
Denvers,  regarding  her  as  a  very  grande  dame  indeed, 
and,  besides,  feeling  unaccountably  nervous  at  en- 
countering the  woman  whom  Mr.  Chatterton  had  ac- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

credited  to  Perry  as  his  intimate  friend.  On  thia 
account,  as  well  as  because  of  a  certain  reserve  on 
Mrs.  Denvers's  part,  the  meeting  had  been  of  a  rather 
unpromising  character,  and  Perry  was  disappointed. 

However,  the  reserve  had  soon  vanished  and  was 
replaced  by  an  ever  deepening  interest  on  the  part  of 
the  older,  and  an  ever  increasing  admiration  on  the 
part  of  the  younger  woman. 

Atherton  Leigh,  in  these  days,  was  going  through 
the  process  known  as  burning  the  candle  at  both  ends. 
Still,  he  at  least  succeeded  in  making  a  fine  illu- 
mination ;  no  man  ever  "  went  to  the  devil "  more 
gracefully  and  picturesquely.  He  must  have  had  a 
happy  intuition  which  served  him  in  lieu  of  worldly 
experience  ;  be  this  as  it  may,  he  fascinated  the  wom- 
en and  delighted  the  men.  There  are  superficial 
qualities  which  are  found  charming,  so  long  as  the 
charmer  is  behind  the  bars  of  social  restraint ;  much 
as  one  may  be  fascinated  by  the  grace  and  suppleness 
of  the  caged  tiger,  but  see  little  to  admire  when  with- 
in reach  of  his  claws. 

Leigh  was  quaffing  deep  of  the  intoxication  of  suc- 
cess. The  lever  which  moves  the  world  is  the  desire 
for  advancement  in  the  eyes  of  one's  neighbors.  Power, 
influence,  control — these  are  the  baits  held  out  by 
fortune,  and  men  swim  for  them  to  the  neglect  of 
worth,  honor,  yes,  of  even  love  itself.  So  far  is  the 
passion  for  notoriety  carried  that  men  will,  if  neces- 
sary, die  to  secure  it,  though  their  ears  may  be  for- 
ever deaf  to  the  thunders  of  applause.  Is  it  to  be 
supposed  that  Curtius  would  have  plunged  into  the 
yawning  crevice  if  there  had  been  no  Roman  populace, 
no  sandaled  patricians  to  admire  his  courage  ? 
11 


162  •&•    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

In  ball-rooms,  and  in  softly  draped,  secluded  cor- 
ners, Atherton  found  the  handsomest  women  and  the 
cleverest  women  in  the  gay  world  ready  to  dance  with 
him,  to  listen  to  his  attractive  voice,  and  to  glance 
back  the  ardent  flash  of  his  impassioned  eyes.  At 
the  clubs  his  companions  were,  to  such  a  character, 
yet  more  dangerous  ;  for  here  there  were  none  of  the 
restraints  with  which  a  nineteenth  century  woman 
hedges  in  her  impulses,  catholic  as  the  limits  usually 
are.  Here  was  no  coquetting  with  danger,  on  the 
contrary  it  was  freely  faced.  After  all,  your  club  is 
but  the  world  in  miniature,  and  is  a  good  or  bad  place 
for  you  just  as  you  yourself  make  it.  The  only  differ- 
ence is  in  favor  of  the  clubs,  if  hypocrisy  be  counted 
a  vice ;  in  favor  of  the  world,  if  it  be  a  virtue. 
Whether  society  would  be  more  safe  by  reason  of  call- 
ing things  by  their  right  names  than  by  the  present 
plan  of  pretending  that  certain  things  do  not  exist 
at  all  while  still  secretly  nourishing  them,  judge 

ye- 

To  Atherton  the  club  was  an  unmitigated  evil ; 
for,  to  this  little  world,  where  so  few  extraneous  re- 
straints are  imposed,  he  brought  the  habit  of  self-in- 
dulgence which  was  now  alarmingly  whetted  by  allur- 
ing surroundings.  Dissipation  to  such  a  nature  was 
made  dangerously  attractive  by  reason  of  Epicurean- 
ism ;  whereas  to  a  man  of  opposite  nature  the  mere 
fact  of  being  thrown  upon  his  own  responsibility 
would  be  a  safeguard.  But  to  transplant  a  Virginia 
youth,  steeped  to  the  lips  in  prejudice  and  insularity, 
to  the  whirl  of  New  York  life,  and  have  him  at  once 
courted  and  petted,  is  to  impose  a  test  too  severe  save 
for  the  strongest,  most  balanced  character.  Ather- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  163 

ton  made  not  the  least  effort  at  self-control,  but 
greeted  dissipation  and  excess  with  open  arras. 

Felix  Perry  had,  possibly,  but  two  characteristics 
in  common  with  Atherton  Leigh  ;  both  could  love, 
and  both  could  suffer.  But  the  quality  of  the  loving 
and  of  the  suffering  differed  greatly  in  each. 

In  the  days  we  are  considering,  Perry  both  loved 
and  was  troubled.  The  complexion  of  his  soul  had 
changed.  He  no  longer  asked  himself  the  degree  of 
his  feeling  for  Chatterton,  he  occupied  himself  chiefly 
with  its  hopelessness.  At  first  sight  it  may  seem 
rather  absurd  for  this  man  to  have  succumbed  to 
hopelessness  without  a  word  spoken  to  test  his  fate. 
But  this  misrepresents  Perry's  fear.  He  could  have 
better  endured  uncertainty  as  to  Chatterton's  feelings 
toward  him  than  doubt  as  to  the  nature  of  his  love 
for  her — was  he  mourning  an  ideal  woman,  or  infatu- 
ated with  the  woman  as  he  found  her  ? 

While  in  this  condition  what  would  be  the  use  in 
testing  the  question  of  her  feelings  in  regard  to  him  ? 
Nay,  how  could  he  test  it  ?  The  very  formula  he 
should  be  forced  to  use  would  be  insincere.  Of  course 
he  could  not  tell  her  he  loved  her,  and  not  ask  her  to 
be  his  wife.  Even  his  frankness  would  have  to  stop 
short  of  an  avowal  of  a  sentiment  as  to  the  nature  of 
which  he  would  have  to  admit  uncertainty.  Only 
such  a  character  as  Atherton  Leigh  could  have  solved 
a  like  question  in  a  moment,  had  the  case  been  his 
own.  "  I  love  you,"  would  have  been  the  formula, 
and  he  would  not  have  speculated  upon,  much  less 
openly  questioned,  the  nature  of  the  passion. 

Love  to  certain  people  means  so  much  more  than 
to  others.  To  Leigh  it  meant  passion,  enthusiasm, 


IQ4:  -A     VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

despair — reaction  ;  to  Perry  it  meant  the  eolor  and 
the  atmosphere  of  existence — not  at  all  in  a  super- 
romantic  sense,  but  in  an  everyday,  whole-life  sort  of 
way.  Hence  his  difficulty.  Could  he  take  unto  him- 
self a  wife  who  had  easily  loved  and  easily  tired  of  a 
man  so  infinitely  below  her  mental  caliber  as  to  argue 
on  her  part  want  of  delicacy  of  feeling  ?  Could  he 
love  deeply  and  lastingly  this  Titania,  even  though 
she  were  now  disenthralled  ? 

However,  on  one  point  he  had  no  doubt ;  this 
woman  was  the  sun  of  his  system,  even  if  she  failed 
in  touching  his  ideal,  and  around  her  and  her  only 
would  his  thoughts  revolve. 

Cleverly  Mr.  Chatterton  played  his  cards.  His 
trump  was  the  introduction  of  a  new  element  into  the 
circle  of  his  blase  friends.  A  whole  family  of  oddi- 
ties— and  yet,  none  of  them  odd  save  in  directions 
which  insulted  no  fashionable  prejudice,  and  which 
challenged  no  invidious  comparision — suddenly  floated 
upon  the  rather  stagnating  waters  of  metropolitan 
society,  reacted  most  advantageously  upon  the  caterer 
to  the  public  taste.  It  is  not  often  that  a  man  can 
bring  down  two  valuable  birds  with  one  stone,  and 
in  accomplishing  this  feat  Mr.  William  Chatterton 
raised  himself  inestimably  in  his  own  estimation,  al- 
though his  former  mental  attitude  in  this  direction 
had  apparently  left  nothing  to  be  desired.  A  stroke 
of  genius  which  redounds  at  once  to  a  man's  social 
success  and  to  his  pecuniary  profit  is  a  stroke  of  genius, 
indeed  !  If  only  Mr.  Chatterton  had  brought  the  dis- 
cretion with  which  he  carried  his  honors  in  Wall 
Street  to  bear  upon  his  Fifth  Avenue  deportment,  he 
would  have  gained  immeasurably.  But  this  he  could 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  165 

not  do.  His  silence  and  reserve  "down-town"  dur- 
ing the  day  were  more  than  counterbalanced  by  his 
garrulity  and  self-importance  at  his  club  or  in  the 
drawing-rooms  of  his  friends.  Insatiate  of  praise,  he 
defeated  his  own  ends  by  so  continually  challenging 
it  at  the  hands  of  friends  and  acquaintances  as  to  be- 
come that  most  fatal  genus,  a  self-satisfied  bore. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THERE  was  a  sound  of  preparation  for  "revelry  by 
night "  in  the  Polliver  Jones  mansion.  Polliver  had 
been  duly  inspected  and  placed  in  the  middle  parlor 
just  under  a  life-sized  portrait  of  himself.  This  por- 
trait represented  him  as  gazing  off  into  space,  pre- 
sumably cogitating  the  contents  of  a  roll  of  paper 
with  which  he  balanced  himself  upon  a  marble  para- 
pet, while  behind  him  was  draped  a  red  plush  curtain, 
without  which — as  is  well  known — no  out-of-door 
marble  esplanade  is  complete.  In  front  of  this  inter- 
esting work  of  art  stood  the  well-drilled  Polliver,  and 
mused  upon  the  dear  old  days  of  liberty  when  he  was 
allowed  unrestricted  license  with  the  English  lan- 
guage, and  had  not,  as  now,  the  fear  of  "ain'ts"  and 
double  negatives  forever  before  his  eyes. 

Mrs.  Jones  was  in  the  drawing-room,  ready  to  re- 
ceive her  guests.  Upon  her  brow  we  now  miss  the 
look  of  exultation  which  we  found  there  upon  our 
first  introduction  to  her,  nearly  a  year  ago.  She  has 
gotten  beyond  that ;  so  far  beyond,  in  fact,  that  she 


166  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

has  succeeded  wonderfully  in  assuming  the  repose 
and  suavity  of  one  to  the  manner  born. 

By  the  side  of  her  hostess  stood  Chatterton  Ches- 
ter. No  longer  in  appearance  the  Chatterton  of  the 
Virginia  woods,  but  transformed  by  the  magic  touch 
of  the  dressmaker  into  a  fashionable  woman.  A 
woman  may  not  only  have  a  separate  mood  for  each 
gown — when  the  shading  and  tone  of  the  one  matches 
the  other — but  she  may  almost  be  said  to  have  a  set  of 
natures  to  go  with  each  costume.  Of  course,  her 
main  characteristics,  as  her  main  features,  are  un- 
changed, but  there  is  a  subtle  something  which  is  put 
on  and  taken  off  with  each  toilet,  and  which  changes 
the  attitude  of  the  woman  herself  in  respect  to  her 
environment.  However,  best  not  obtrude  our  man- 
nish obtuseness  upon  a  question  requiring  such  deli- 
cate handling,  so  we  will  satisfy  ourselves  with  the 
assertion  that  a  charming  woman  well  dressed  is 
doubly  charming. 

Chatterton  was  the  guest  of  the  ball ;  in  her 
flushed,  expectant  face  one  could  read  of  the  pleasure 
with  which  she  looked  forward  to  her  evening.  Mrs. 
Underdunk  had  brought  Chatterton  and  Bud,  and 
now  regarded  her  charges  with  satisfied  eyes.  Bud 
was  as  sweet  and  as  fresh  as  her  namesake,  the  debu- 
tante rose.  She  was  seated  next  to  Mrs.  Underdunk, 
and  doing  her  best  to  entertain  that  rather  blase 
old  party. 

"  Do  you  think,"  said  Mrs.  Underdunk,  ruthless- 
ly interrupting  her  young  companion  in  the  recital  of 
some  rather  commonplace  incident,  "do  you  think 
Miss  Chester  is  heart-whole  ?  Has  she  shown  special 
preference  for  no  one  ?  " 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  167 

Bud  took  a  moment  in  which  to  fix  her  mental 
focus  upon  this  new  subject,  and  then  replied  : 

"I  think  not ;  at  one  time,  quite  lately,  I  thought 
her  rather  interested  in  a  gentleman,  but  I  believe  I 
was  mistaken." 

"  Do  not  say  'a  gentleman,'  my  dear,  say  '  a  man  '; 
it  is  more  distinctive,  nowadays.  You  do  not  mean 
that  Rembrandtish  prodigal  son,  Atherton  Leigh  ?  " 

"Oh/  no!"  said  Bud,  laconically,  sighing  from 
her  gentle  heart  for  poor,  disappointed,  unstable  Ath- 
erton. 

"You  mean  William  Chatterton  ?" 

"No,  indeed  !  Mr.  Chatterton  and  our  Chatter- 
ton  do  not  get  on  well  together.  She  is  so  impetu- 
ous, you  know.  I  declare,  at  times  she  quite  scares 
me  by  her  treatment  of  her  cousin  ! " 

"  Scares  you,  child  ?  Why,  what  does  she 
do?" 

"  Oh,  I  hardly  know  how  to  express  it.  She  seems 
to  have  not  the  least  fear  of  him  ! " 

"Why  should  she?  He  is  not  dangerous,"  an- 
swered Mrs.  Underdunk,  languidly  amused. 

"  To  me  he  seems  rather  awe-inspiring  and  terri- 
ble," said  Bud,  without  the  least  sarcasm. 

"  Pooh  !  he's  merely  a  ruffian  in  paint,  my  dear  ; 
none  of  the  wrinkles  are  real.  But  if  it  is  not  the 
great  Chatterton,  who  is  it — not  Felix  Perry,  surely  ? 
He  is  too  practical ;  too  solid  and  substantial  to  please 
a  romantic,  willful  girl. " 

But  Bud,  not  wishing  to  satisfy  the  other's  curi- 
osity, and  repenting  having  excited  it,  evaded  the 
question. 

By-and-by  Mrs.  Underdunk  said  : 


168  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

"  And  have  you  succumbed  to  the  flattery  of  no 
oily  tongue  ?  " 

Bud  laughingly  shook  her  head.  Her  companion 
continued  : 

"Not  to  David  Shipman,  the  great  cotton  man 
who  has  suddenly  become  so  rich  ?  He  was  devoted 
to  you  last  night  at  the  opera." 

"  Oh,  no,  indeed  !  I  do  not  like  him  at  all.  He 
belittled  every  one  I  spoke  of.  He  called  Mr.  Chat- 
terton  'a,  self-important  cad,'  whatever  that  may 
mean." 

"Did  he?" — Mrs.  Underdunk  rather  enjoyed 
this — "  well,  you  know,  we  must  not  be  too  hard  upon 
a  jealous  man.  Sneering  to  this  state  is  what  sneez- 
ing is  to  a  cold  in  the  head — the  manifestation  of  in- 
'  ner  irritation.  But  there,  I  must  positively  not  talk 
with  you  longer.  I  have  wasted  two  exceptionally 
good  things  on  you  within  five  minutes — good  things, 
which,  if  they  had  been  reserved  for  a  larger  circle, 
would  have  floated  me  the  whole  evening." 

The  rooms  were  filling  fast,  and  dancing  had 
begun. 

Chatterton  was  the  center  of  a  small  court,  and 
was  positively  radiant  in  the  happy  consciousness  of 
power  and  success.  Here  men  came  to  perform  a 
mere  social  duty,  but  remained  to  admire  "la  belle 
ingenue,"  as  Roger  Blake,  the  artist,  called  her. 
Possibly  there  were  a  dozen  more  clever,  more  brilliant 
women  in  the  room,  and  some  few  as  beautiful  ;  but 
there  was  a  freshness,  a  naturalness  that  was  most 
attractive  because  of  its  rarity.  Few  women  nowadays 
are  unself-conscious  if  beautiful.  One  must  beware 
of  them,  else  in  endeavoring  to  pluck  the  rose  of  en- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  169 

joyment  one  may  run  against  some  unexpected  thorn 
— egotism,  arrogance,  or  vanity. 

Happening  to  gaze  across  the  room,  while  listen- 
ing to  Mr.  Blake  as  he  uttered  some  epigram  about 
the  foibles  and  follies  of  the  world,  Chatterton  met 
Perry's  eyes  fixed  intently  upon  her.  He  evidently 
did  not  expect  detection,  for  it  was  the  fraction  of  a 
moment  before  he  could  rid  his  face  of  a  certain  ex- 
pression which  puzzled  her. 

He  approached,  and,  courteously  allowing  Mr. 
Blake  to  make  his  point  before  distracting  the  atten- 
tion of  his  auditor — a  trait  inexpressibly  dear  to  him 
who  has,  or  who  thinks  he  has,  a  point  to  make — made 
his  salutations,  but  almost  immediately  stepped  aside 
to  open  the  way  to  new  arrivals,  having  first,  however, 
secured  the  promise  of  a  dance.  But  still  that  look 
haunted  Chatterton.  She  could  not  interpret  it.  It 
spoke  of  either  pity  or  of  unhappiness,  but  which 
emotion  it  was  she  could  not  tell.  In  her  mental 
exertion  to  solve  this  question  she  necessarily  rather 
absent-mindedly  answered  the  small  talk  of  the  men 
by  whom  she  was  surrounded;  but  this  did  not  matter 
much,  as  they  were  mostly  of  the  class  who  hold  that 
a  pretty  woman  is  always  clever  enough. 

If  she  could  have  been  persuaded  that  Perry  was 
unhappy,  she  could  have  pitied  him,  and  at  the  same 
have  experienced  a  sensation  of  decided  satisfaction  at 
being  the  presumable  cause.  But  suppose  he  pitied 
her  !  Somehow  this  man  possessed  the  power  of  ab- 
sorbing her  in  the  contemplation  of  his  opinion  of 
herself,  and  she  told  herself  that  she  did  not  like  it 
at  all. 

However,   youth  is  sublimely  recuperative,   and 


170  -4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

Chatterton  soon  forgot  her  annoyance  in  the  whirl  of 
the  dance  and  in  the  pleasurable  excitement  of  the 
moment. 

And  the  music  sounded  through  the  spacious 
rooms,  and  hearts  were  light  and  gay,  lonely  and  sad, 
or  torpid  and  indifferent,  after  the  manner  of  the 
hearts  of  "all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men";  and 
still  Perry  stood  on  the  outer  edge  of  the  crowd  of 
dancers,  and  followed  Chatterton  with  surreptitious 
gaze. 

Late  in  the  evening  Atherton  arrived.  He  was 
flushed  and  excited,  and  even  more  handsome  and  de- 
bonnaire  than  usual.  Many  eyes  shone  the  brighter  for 
his  coming,  and  smiled  on  him  encouragement  and 
invitation.  As  was  his  wont,  the  young  man  plunged 
headlong  in  the  midst  of  the  gayety,  and  was  soon 
waltzing  with  one  of  the  best  dancers  in  the  room. 

Mrs.  Chester,  who  had  come  late  on  principle, 
was  talking  to  Mrs.  Underdunk,  much  to  the  enter- 
tainment of  the  latter,  for  Mrs.  Chester  was  in  her 
hands  as  clay,  and  the  potter  chose  to  mold  her  into 
a  leaky  vessel.  To  hear  Mrs.  Chester  tell  of  the  estate 
of  Chatterton,  of  her  ancestors,  of  the  importance  of 
the  General's  inventions,  and  of  the  glory  of  Virginia 
generally,  was  a  keen  pleasure  to  Mrs.  Underdunk. 
But  the  old  lady  was  an  epicure  and  handled  her 
subject  with  artistic  delicacy. 

"Your  young  friend  Mr.  Leigh,  Mrs.  Chester,  is 
a  remarkably  handsome  man — of  his  type." 

"And  so  was  his  father.  I  remember  Colonel 
Leigh  when  he  had  half  the  girls  of  the  county  in  love 
with  him." 

"  Of  good  family,  I  have  no  doubt,  the  Leighs  ?" 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

Mrs.  Chester  was  instantly  interested.  "  Of  the 
Yery  best,  Mrs.  Underdunk.  Atherton's  mother  was 
a  Eandolph  ;  her  mother  a  Clapperton  of  Clapperton 
Hall,  Prince  William  County.  His  maternal  great- 
grandfather married  a  Biddepord.  On  his  father's 
side  Athcrton  is  connected  with  my  family — his  great- 
grandfather was  my  grandfather's  step-mother's  cousin. 
Besides  this,  we  are  connected  through  the  Fotherin- 
gales  of  Westmoreland." 

"As  nearly  connected  as  through  the  other 
branch  ? "  asked  Mrs.  Underdunk,  with  the  smile  of 
innocence  but  with  the  heart  of  guile. 

"Quite  as  nearly  connected.  My  mother's  uncle 
was  a — " 

Here  Mrs.  Polliver  Jones  came  up  hurriedly,  her 
face  so  expressive  of  perturbation  as  to  stop  suddenly 
the  gentle  ambling  of  Mrs.  Chester's  hobby. 

"I  beg  your  pardon  for  interrupting  you,  Mrs. 
Chester.  Just  to  think,  my  dear  Mrs.  Underdunk, 
she  has  forced  herself  unasked  into  my  house  ! " 

"She,  Mrs.  Jones— who  ?" 

"  Oh,  that  woman !  That  pushing,  vulgar  woman, 
Mrs.  Dare  !  Just  to  think  of  it,  she  here  !  How  can 
one  be  exclusive  in  these  days  ?" 

Mrs.  Chester  felt  herself  called  upon  to  answer, 
and  therefore  said,  with  considerable  earnestness, 
too:  "How,  indeed!  May  I  ask  to  whom  you 
refer?" 

"A  Mrs.  Dare,"  broken-heartedly  answered  Mrs. 
Polliver,  sinking  into  a  chair,  with  a  careless  nod  of 
acknowledgment  to  an  aristocratic-looking  old  gentle- 
man who  handed  it  to  her — he  was  poor  and  of  a  de- 
cayed family — "an  adventuress ;  a  widow,  I  believe" 


172  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

(with  a  tone  implying  considerable  doubt  of  the  fact) 
"who  has  obtained  a  foothold  on  society  through  the 
mistaken  kindness  of  Mrs.  Denvers,  who,  it  is  whis- 
pered, took  her  up  to  please  Felix  Perry." 

Mrs.  Underdunk — considerably  exhilarated  at  the 
prospect  of  an  exciting  passage-at-arms  between  her 
hostess  and  the  mysterious  widow — took  upon  herself 
to  add  her  quota  to  the  divertissement. 

"Really,  Mrs.  Jones,  you  exaggerate;  Mrs.  Dare 
is  not  so  bad.  She  has  been  asked,  I  am  told — I  my- 
self do  not  know  the  people — to  Mrs.  Blank's  and 
to  Mrs.  Nemo's  afternoons." 

Now,  as  Mrs.  Blank  and  Mrs.  Nemo  were  worse 
than  nobodies — mere  barnacles  which  refused  to  be 
scraped  off  the  hull  of  the  social  ship — this  informa- 
tion exasperated  Mrs.  Jones  to  the  highest  pitch,  as 
was  indeed  intended  it  should. 

"  How  can  I  get  rid  of  her  !  Can  not  I  send  her 
word  that  there  must  be  some  error,  that  she  has  evi- 
dently mistaken  the  house  ?  " 

"  How  did  she  get  here  ?" 

"  Mrs.  Smithers  asked  for  an  invitation  for  a 
friend.  I  could  not  refuse.  Unfortunately,  I  paid  no 
attention  to  the  name  of  the  friend,  but  turned  the 
matter  over  to  Sniffins,  my  housekeeper,  for  her  to 
fill  out  the  invitation." 

Mrs.  Underdunk  instantly  remembered  that  on  a 
previous  occasion  she  herself  had  asked  for  an  invita- 
tion of  Mrs.  Jones,  for  a  niece,  and  had  been  refused, 
and  now  the  information  that  Mrs.  Smithers  had  suc- 
ceeded fanned  the  feeble  flame  of  a  mere  malicious 
intent  into  the  fiercer  fire  of  revenge.  So  well  did 
she  ply  her  arts  that  Mrs.  Jones  was  almost  iu  tears, 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

having  lost  for  the  nonce  that  dignified  indifference 
which  had  recently  graced  her  proud,  erect  crest. 

And  still  the  music  floated  over  the  sea  of  heads, 
unmindful  of  the  discordant  notes  of  "envy,  hatred, 
malice,  and  all  uncharitableness "  which  kept  up  a 
murmuring  diapason  in  the  lower  strata. 

The  object  of  Mrs.  Jones's  disquietude  showed  few 
signs  of  perturbation.  Either  she  was  indifferent  or 
was  inured  to  such  reception  as  she  had  met  at  the 
hands  of  her  hostess,  for  it  neither  ruffled  her  placid 
brow  nor  stirred  an  unquiet  gleam  from  the  depths  of 
her  pellucid  eyes.  As  she  swept  superbly  over  the 
waxen  floor,  on  the  arm  of  old  Mr.  Bramble,  she  cer- 
tainly merited  the  glances  of  admiration  which  she 
received  from  the  men.  Upon  the  stock  of  her  phil- 
osophy, however,  she  must  have  drawn  heavily  that 
night,  for  most  of  the  women  shunned  her  in  that 
bitterly  cruel  way  which  even  the  best  of  women  at 
times  assume. 

Perry,  he  scarcely  knew  why,  felt  a  vague  regret 
that  Mrs.  Dare  was  present.  From  some  undefined 
impulse  he  did  not  wish  Chatterton  Chester  to  know 
her.  There  is  something  repellent  to  a  fastidious 
man  in  having  a  very  young  woman — particularly, if 
he  is  in  love  with  her — brought  in  contact  with  a 
thorough -paced  worldly  woman,  especially  with  one  to 
whom  the  shifts  and  subterfuges  of  a  debatable  posi- 
tion are  not  unknown.  Where  it  had  concerned  Mrs. 
Denvers,  it  had  been  very  different.  Mrs.  Denvers 
was  a  married  woman,  and  fully  capable  of  taking 
care  of  herself — besides,  he  was  not  in  love  with  Mrs. 
Denvers.  Even  in  that  case  he  had  come  to  regret 
his  course  in  having  almost  forced  Mrs.  Dare  upon 


174:  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

her  acquaintance.  Somehow,  the  widow  did  not  ap- 
pear as  well — was  more  rakish  and  prononcee — in  the 
full  glare  of  public  notice  as  in  the  secluded  twilight 
of  a  tete-a-tete. 

His  was  not  the  nature,  however,  to  shrink  from 
a  situation  of  his  own  making.  He  advanced  toward 
Mrs.  Dare  with  extended  hand,  and  said:  "It  has 
been  long,  Mrs.  Dare,  since  we  have  seen  one  an- 
other." 

With  quiet  dexterity  she  released  Mr.  Bramble's 
arm  and  dismissed  him — but  so  flatteringly  withal, 
that  he  counted  it  only  a  concession  to  social  exigency 
— and,  placing  her  hand  in  Perry's:  "I  am  glad," 
she  said,  "that  you  found  it  long." 

"As  cruel  but  more  honest  than  is  usual  with 
your  sex." 

"  How  insensibly  even  you  assume  the  little  man- 
nerism of  society  before  the  footlights  !  Fortunately, 
we  poor  women  get  to  learn  the  proportion  of  insin- 
cerity." 

It  was  with  a  feeling  akin  to  admiration  that  he 
noticed  a  vast  improvement  in  diction  and  grammar. 
No  man  ever  lived  from  whom  a  successful  effort  in 
the  direction  of  either  restraint  or  of  development 
commanded  more  respect. 

"At  Home,  you  know,"  he  said,  "one  must  imi- 
tate the  natives." 

"And  yet" — her  eyes  were  certainly  very  effect- 
ive ;  they  seemed  to  imply  so  much — "  the  heart  will 
not  always  recognize  the  necessity.  It  at  times  brings 
its  bundle  of  cares  even  into  the  ball-room.  Shock- 
ing bad  taste,  is  it  not  ?  " 

He  glanced  at  her  as  a  man  will  whose  senses  ap- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  175 

prove  but  whose  soul  is  absolutely  untouched.  "  Your 
heart,"  he  said,  "can  have  no  such  load." 

"And  why  not?" 

He  hesitated  for  a  moment  before  answering.  It 
was  so  seldom  that  he  undertook  to  give  currency  to 
a  mere  platitude,  that  this  one  stuck  in  his  throat. 
Finally,  he  said  :  "  It  was  a  silly  speech  I  was  about 
to  make.  Of  course,  even  the  most  favored  of  the  sons 
of  men  are  liable  to  heart-aches.  Indeed,  I  do  not 
know  but  that  keen  sensibility  renders  one  the  more 
liable." 

But  she  cared  little  for  generalizing,  and  sought 
to  bring  him  back  to  a  more  congenial  topic — herself. 
"Am  I  one  of  the  favored  'sons  of  men/  Mr.  Perry  ? 
Alas,  how  little  you  know  me !  I  doubt  if  there 
is  a  more  unhappy  woman  under  this  roof  to- 
night!" 

He  did  not  care  to  enter  the  labyrinth  of  senti- 
ment, and  elected  to  take  this  lightly.  "  So  say  most 
of  us  at  certain  moments.  What  is  the  present  cause 
of  your  unhappiness — a  gown  a  failure,  or  a  bonnet 
gone  wrong  ?  " 

He  had  to  wait  for  the  time  to  claim  his  dance 
with  Chatterton,  and  thought  he  might  as  well  wait 
in  agreeable  company.  They  had  wandered  off  into 
the  library,  and  were  seated  on  a  sofa  in  the  corner. 
He  was  gazing  unspeculatively  at  the  tiers  of  gor- 
geously bound  books  which  lined  the  room  ;  but  not 
receiving  an  answer  to  his  last  remark  he  now  turned 
toward  his  companion. 

He  was  shocked  to  notice  her  expression.  Her 
face  was  pale — almost  ashen — and  she  looked  ten 
years  older. 


176  4-    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

"  Good  heavens  ! "  he  exclaimed,  starting  to  his 
feet,  "are  you  not  well  ?" 

"It  is  nothing,"  she  faltered.  "The  heat  of  the 
room  ;  the — the —  "  and  she  burst  into  tears. 

Shocked  beyond  measure,  Felix  stood  before  her, 
thoughtfully  endeavoring  to  screen  her  from  the  open 
door  and  the  passing  revelers.  "  Can  I  do  nothing 
for  you  ?  "  he  said.  "  You  distress  me  ! " 

She  was  recovering  her  composure,  and  tried  to 
smile  up  at  him.  "  A  weak  woman,  after  all,  you  see, 
Mr.  Perry.  And,  as  I  said,  an  unhappy  one — but 
there,  let  it  pass.  I  usually  am  able  to  control  my- 
self. At  times,  however,  my  sense  of  loneliness  over- 
comes me." 

"  Did  I  in  any  way  offend  you  ? "  he  asked,  for- 
getting his  former  fear  of  the  labyrinth. 

"You  seemed  to  doubt  the  fact  of  my  unhappi- 
ness.  I  am  nervous,  and — and — well,  never  mind." 

Something  told  him  his  companion  was  not  refer- 
ring her  sudden  emotion  to  its  true  cause.  Her  at- 
tention wandered  and  she  was  gazing  past  him  fixedly 
at  the  door.  He  turned  just  in  time  to  see  a  couple 
disappear  past  the  opening.  Seeing  the  direction  of 
his  glance,  his  companion  said,  recovering  herself : 
"  Tell  me,  Mr.  Perry,  who  is  that  remarkable  looking 
man  ?  He  certainly  is  the  handsomest  creature  I 
have  ever  seen  ! " 

"That/"'  responded  Felix,  glad  enough  to  have 
done  with  sentiment  and  with  tears,  "is  Atherton 
Leigh,  of  Virginia." 

Mrs.  Dare  sat  immovable.  By-and-by  she  said: 
"  And  the  girl  on  his  arm  ?  " 

"Miss  Hetherinton  ;  also  a  Virginian." 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  177 

Mrs.  Dare  was  again  silent.  The  music  came  to 
them  softly  from  the  distant  ball-room. 

"  Tell  me  something  about  them." 

"  He  is  a  mad-cap,  undisciplined  fellow ;  she,  a 
gentle,  sweet,  old-fashioned  child.  She  has  a  sad  his- 
tory-" 

Mrs.  Dare  interrupted  him  hurriedly.  "After 
all,"  she  said,  "  I  think  I  must  have  a  glass  of  wine 
or  an  ice.  Take  me,  please,  to  the  dining-room." 

As  they  entered  the  sumptuous  banquet-hall,  she 
said  :  "  Leave  me  over  there  with  Mrs.  Smithers.  I 
must  not  monopolize  you.  Go  now,  and  thank  you 
so  much  for  your  sympathy.  You  may  later  bring 
Mr.  Leigh  and  introduce  him." 

Perry  knew  too  much  of  the  world  to  be  oversur- 
prised  at  anything.  Still,  he  did  rate  the  widow's 
latest  whim  as  at  least  unexpected.  To  be  one  mo- 
ment sentimental,  and  the  next  to  be  preoccupied 
and  agitated,  and  then  almost  immediately  to  dismiss 
him  in  search  of  Atherton  Leigh,  a  stranger,  was  cer- 
tainly peculiar. 

Wishing  to  be  rid  of  his  commission  as  soon  as 
possible,  Perry  secured  Atherton — now  deeply  flushed 
with  wine  and  excitement — and  led  him  to  Mrs.  Dare. 
The  introduction  was  made,  and,  as  they  sauntered  off 
— having  already  each  gauged  the  predilection  of  the 
other — in  quest  of  a  sequestered  spot,  Felix  turned, 
and  instantly  forgot  them  both,  for  there  before  him, 
slowly  crossing  the  room  on  the  arm  of  her  partner  of 
the  last  dance,  was  Chatterton,  radiant  and  lovely. 
The  distant  music  had  just  started  a  waltz,  and, 
knowing  that  it  was  to  be  his,  she  turned  expectantly 
toward  Felix,  too  little  versed  in  the  ways  of  the 
12 


ITS  -4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

world  to  know  that  its  dictates  command  at  least 
apparent  indifference. 

In  a  moment  Perry  was  at  her  side  ;  "  My  waltz, 
I  think,  Miss  Chester  ?  "  he  said,  and  led  off  his  prize 
to  the  ball-room. 


CHAPTEK  XVII. 

WHEN  sympathy  of  so  intense  a  nature  that  it  is 
akin  to  love  exists  between  a  man  and  a  woman,  the 
immediate  surroundings  are  of  minor  importance. 
Still,  they  do  count,  and  Perry  and  Chatterton  were 
attuned  to  sentiment  in  the  ball-room — with  its  waves 
of  sound  and  perfume  and  its  panorama  of  jeweled 
and  decked  humanity — as  they  would  not  have  been, 
at  least  as  Chattertou  would  not  have  been,  under 
less  stirring  circumstances. 

The  champagne  of  emotion  goes  soonest  to  the 
head  of  the  unaccustomed  quaffer,  and  Perry  was 
deeply  moved  as  he  guided  his  partner  over  the 
smooth  floor  to  the  strains  of  a  dreamy  waltz,  a 
waltz  pathetic  with  that  undertone  of  sadness  which 
appeals  to  one  so  strongly  in  certain  moments. 

When  the  music  ceased,  Perry  led  Chatterton  to 
the  library. 

"Do  come  in  here,"  he  said,  betraying  emotion  in 
look  and  tone.  "  Will  not  you  grant  me  a  little  more 
time,  will  not  you  forego  one  dance  for  my  sake  ?  " 

She  glanced  up  at  him,  but  said  nothing  as  she 
allowed  him  to  take  her  to  the  sofa  where,  a  short 
while  before,  Mrs.  Dare  had  wept.  He  was  not  think- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  179 

ing  of  Mrs.  Dare  and  her  tears,  but  of  Chatterton — 
such  warm,  tender  and  yet  regretful  thoughts  as  his 
love  and  its  hopelessness  inspired.  He  had  convinced 
himself,  as  we  know,  that  the  love  must  be  hopeless. 
The  argument  had  been  unanswerable  at  the  time — 
he  would  be  doing  both  her  and  himself  a  wrong  if 
he  tried  to  win  her  for  his  wife,  for  the  memory  of 
her  fickle  course  in  regard  to  Atherton  would  be  sure 
to  imbitter  his  happiness,  and,  consequently,  hers. 
The  argument  did  not  appeal  to  him  strongly  at  this 
moment,  for  he  did  not  reopen  the  discussion  with 
himself.  Having  once  reached  a  conclusion  in  regard 
to  the  right  in  the  case,  it  was  like  him  thereafter  to 
accept  that  conclusion  without  new  questioning.  It 
is  hard  to  separate  a  strong  character  and  a  precon- 
ceived idea,  be  that  idea  sterling  or  erroneous. 

Schooling  his  voice  to  something  like  its  ordinary 
tone,  he  said :  "  You  have  not  forgotten  our  sunny, 
happy,  Arcadian,  Virginia  days  ?  " 

She  looked  up  quickly.  "  My  thoughts,"  she  said, 
"  were  at  that  moment  in  dear  old  Braddox.  How 
far  away,  how  dissolved  it  seems,  does  it  not  ?  I  can 
hardly  realize  that  it  has  not  vanished  from  the  face 
of  the  earth.  Do  you  remember  our  ride  to  the  court- 
house, and  your  astonishment  at  all  you  saw  there  ? 
Could  there  be  a  stronger  contrast  than  between  that 
scene  and  this  ! " 

"They  represent  extremes,  certainly.  You  will 
not  think  me  unappreciative  of  the  good  things  the 
gods  have  given  if  I  say  I  wish  we  were  back  there 
now?" 

"  Do  you  ? "  she  said,  softly — it  was  not  a  ques- 
tion, much  less  a  doubt. 


180  -^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

"Yes;  for  this  is  artificial  and  that  was  ideal." 
Then,  recovering  himself  with  an  effort :  "  Still,  this 
scene  has  the  advantage  of  being  less  passive,  and  I 
usually  have  but  scant  sympathy  with  inertia." 

"  I  have  always  thought  you  rather  severe  on  my 
compatriots,"  she  replied.  There  was  little  of  re- 
proach in  her  voice  ;  only  less  of  feeling  than  before, 
for  she  had  noticed  the  change  in  him. 

"  With  some  men  severity  is  the  best  evidence  of 
interest,"  he  answered.  "  Caring  only  to  consider 
those  who  attract  them,  they  naturally  regret  flaws 
where  there  are  so  few  real  faults." 

"  You  atone  nobly,  Mr.  Perry." 

"  I  did  not  so  much  refer  to  Virginians  as  a  class," 
he  responded,  "as  to — to — "  he  hesitated. 

She  waited  for  the  end  of  his  sentence,  but  as  it 
did  not  come,  she  said  :  "  You  are  in  the  main  a  man 
with  a  strong  impulse  toward  justice.  I  have  on 
more  than  one  occasion  admired  the  trait  in  you 
when  the  temptation  to  ignore  it  must  have  been 
strong.  Why  is  it,  then,  that  you  seem  to  discover 
only  what  is  weak  in  our  people  ?  There  must  be 
some  redeeming  characteristics,  and  you,  who  are  so 
fond  of  quoting  the  law  of  compensation,  should 
have  discovered  them." 

He  hesitated  a  moment.  In  that  moment  he  real- 
ized that  the  accusation  was  just — he  had  allowed  his 
disappointment  in  the  woman  by  his  side  to  tinge  his 
criticism  of  her  race.  He  must  atone,  he  argued,  for 
his  was  the  nature  to,  like  Zaccheus,  "restore  seven- 
fold." Besides,  he  could  no  longer  keep  silent.  The 
impulse  to  declare  his  love  was  overmastering ;  but, 
in  obeying  it,  he  unfortunately  gave  voice  as  much  to 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  181 

prejudice  as  to  lore.  He  should  have  been  wiser ;  he 
should  have  been  more  noble  ;  but,  with  the  bias  of  a 
wrong  opinion  strong  upon  him,  he  forgot  all  save 
the  bitterness  of  his  impending  loss.  In  a  slow,  re- 
strained voice,  he  said  :  "  Your  reproach  is  deserved  ; 
I  am  afraid  I  do  not  merit  to  be  called  just.  I  find  I 
am  weak  in  the  direction  in  which  I  thought  myself 
strong.  I  can,  at  least,  confess.  Yes  ;  I  have  of  late 
been  unjust  to  your  people.  I  have  visited  on  them, 
as  a  class,  my  unhappiness  at  the  course  pursued  by 
one  of  their  number." 

"  Indeed  ?    I  am  surprised." 

She  knew  he  referred  to  her,  supposing  him  a  prey 
to  some  jealous  fancy,  but  would  neither  help  nor 
hinder  him  in  what  he  had  to  say ;  for  she  waited 
for  him  to  strike  the  key  before  she  determined 
whether  she  was  attuned  to  the  chord.  Women  are 
marvelously  governed  both  in  the  nature  and  in  the 
proportion  of  their  likes  or  of  their  loves  by  the  quan- 
tity and  quality  of  these  sentiments  entertained  for 
them  by  friends  or  lovers.  The  thermometer  of  their 
emotions  responds  with  surprising  accuracy  to  the 
temperature  to  which  it  is  exposed.  Doubtless  Chat- 
terton  would  have  with  indignation  repudiated  the 
insinuation  that  upon  Perry's  next  words  would  de- 
pend the  kind  as  well  as  the  degree  of  her  feeling  for 
him  ;  and  yet,  this  was  nevertheless  true. 

Cold  as  were  Chatterton's  words,  she  herself  was 
far  from  cold.  Under  its  disguise  she  had  recognized 
a  certain  pathos  in  her  companion's  voice,  and  was 
glad  with  that  unreasoning,  unanalyzed  gladness 
which  touches  the  skirts  of  true  happiness  and  finds 
virtue  therein  as  no  after-emotion  is  likely  ever  to 


182  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

find  it.  "Women  are  more  occupied  with  tones  than 
with  actual  language,  possessing  as  they  do  the  faculty 
of  seizing  through  these  the  finer  inflections  of  feel- 
ing which  mere  words  can  not  convey. 

There  had  been  silence  for  a  few  moments.  Not 
that  Perry  hesitated  to  confess  the  true  state  of  his 
heart — for  there  was  no  angel  of  prudence  in  his  path 
to  turn  him  from  his  unwise  purpose — but  that  he 
sought  words  in  which  to  express  it.  At  length  he 
said  : 

"You  know  the  story  of  my  early  love,  therefore  I 
need  not  repeat  it.  The  first  shock  caused  by  Bar- 
bara's faithlessness  once  over,  I  betook  myself  to  hard 
work.  I  do  not  think  I  was  imbittered  against  your 
sex,  I  simply  thought  myself  invulnerable.  There 
was  a  long  interval  during  which  my  life  flowed  on, 
and  when  I  floated  on  its  surface  in  a  state  of  negative 
contentment — then  I  met  you.  In  you  I  found,  I 
gladly  assured  myself,  the  characteristics  for  which  I 
had  blindly  groped  in  my  earlier  years,  and  which, 
since  their  disappointment,  I  had  considered  chimeri- 
cal. Your  very  faults — excuse  me,  I  can  only  be  per- 
fectly clear  in  being  perfectly  frank — I  attributed  to 
their  opposite  virtues  in  disguise  to  escape  detection 
by  certain  unsympathetic  surroundings.  I  loved  you, 
Miss  Chester,  as  only  a  man  can  love  who  brings  ap- 
proval to  the  strengthening  of  emotion  ;  and  the 
dream  of  my  days  was  to  make  you  my  wife.  And 
now  that  love  still  masters  me.  It  has  overflowed  the 
dykes  that  kept  it  deep  and  calm.  I  love  you  still, 
even  now  that — " 

He  could  not  say  it !  It  seemed  too  brutal  to  tell 
this  woman  by  his  side,  with  her  innocent  face  turned 


A    VIRGINIA    INHERITANCE.  183 

expectantly  toward  him,  that  he  held  her  to  have 
lacked  in  delicacy  of  feeling  in  that  she  had  lightly 
loved  and  lightly  cast  aside  ! 

She  had  leaned  forward,  her  face  white  but  eager; 
in  her  eyes,  the  unmistakable  light.  She  was  essen- 
tially feminine,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term.  She 
had  not  confessed  to  herself  more  than  a  growing 
liking  for  this  man — the  antithesis  of  all  other  men 
she  had  known — till  now  that  the  magic  words  had 
been  spoken  ;  now  that  no  real  or  imaginary  barrier 
interposed  between  her  and  absolute  frankness  to  her 
own  heart  and  absolute  candor  to  him.  As  Perry  told 
his  love,  he  had  read  his  answer  in  her  pose  ;  in  the 
liquid  depth  of  her  frank,  young  eyes ;  in  the  eager 
parting  of  her  red  lips,  and  it  made  his  task  the 
harder ;  that  task  which  was  none  the  less  real  be- 
cause imposed  by  superintensity  upon  a  substratum  of 
misconception. 

But  the  diver  had  missed  his  pearl.  At  Perry's 
last  words  Chatterton  awoke  as  from  a  dream.  Till 
they  had  been  uttered  she  had  marked  but  his  im- 
passioned tones,  and  had  heeded  not  at  all  the  note  of 
warning  that  ran  through  what  he  had  said.  And 
yet,  even  in  the  descent  from  the  ideal  to  the  real, 
she  sought  to  retard  the  catastrophe. 

"  Is  it  all  a  question  of  the  past  ?  " 

Then  Perry  proceeded  to  immolate  himself  fanati- 
cally. Other  martyrs  have  died  through  mistaken 
zeal  where  discretion  might  have  made  them  living 
apostles  ;  and  yet  the  zeal  was  ethical.  We  well  know 
it  to  be  a  misstatement  that  the  days  of  martyrdom 
are  over. 

"I  trust  that  you  think  me  incapable  of  hurt- 


184  A    VIRGINIA    INHERITANCE. 

ing  your  feelings  wantonly  or  through  careless, 
ness  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  murmured. 

"  Do  you  think  that  you  can  grasp  the  idea  that 
I  doubt  through  the  medium  of  my  senses,  and  yet 
that  a  single  word  of  denial  will  outweigh  their  evi- 
dence ?  In  what  I  am  about  to  say,  will  you  weigh 
the  spirit  and  not  the  letter  ?  " 

"I  will  try,"  pathetically. 

As  a  man  of  the  world  he  should  have  known  how 
worse  than  useless  was  this  preparation,  that  no  wom- 
an, similarly  situated,  was  ever  yet  forearmed  to  meet 
a  disagreeable  truth  heroically.  She  flies  'from  the 
point  in  question  to  the  consideration  of  the  animus 
that  prompted  the  disapproval,  and,  inferring  it  to  be 
critical,  the  whole  chain  of  the  lover's  estimate  of 
herself  is  held  to  be  no  stronger  than  its  weakest 
link. 

At  last,  he  said  :  "On  the  day  I  left  your  home 
in  Virginia,  Atherton  Leigh  joined  me  on  the  road  to 
Braddox  Station.  He  tried  to  pick  a  quarrel  with 
me  ;  demanding  that  I  should  cease  paying  attention 
to  you.  Failing  in  securing  either  satisfaction  or  a  re- 
linquishment  of  my  claim  to  your  friendship,  he  warned 
me  that  he  had  the  right  to  speak  for  you,  as  you  and 
he  were  at  that  moment  engaged  to  be  married. " 

Chatter  ton  started ;  her  eyes  flashed  fire — "  And 
you  believed  him  ?  " 

"No." 

She  sank  back  among  the  cushions  of  the  sofa,  a 
smile  replacing  the  blaze  of  anger.  Perry  continued  : 
"  No.  In  my  early  life  I  sounded  the  depths  of  one 
woman's  possibility  in  the  direction  of  deception,  and 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  185 

doubtless  it  has  warped  my  judgment,  and  yet  I  have 
not  lost  all  faith  in  womankind.  I  knew  you  could 
not  hare  seen  my  love  grow,  as  you  must  have  seen 
it,  and  not  have  warned  me  in  some  way  if  you  were 
then  engaged  to  marry  another  man  ! " 

She  held  out  a  small  white  hand  with  a  most 
charming  gesture  of  friendly  acknowledgment.  He 
seized  it,  and  carried  it  passionately  to  his  lips. 
Still  holding  it  he  continued,  his  voice  broken  with 
emotion  :  "Tell  me,  Chatterton,  tell  me  that  Leigh, 
for  some  ignoble  purpose  of  his  own,  deceived  me  ! 
Tell  me  that  I  have  been  all  wrong  in  believing  that 
once  you  were  engaged  to  him,  and  that  there  might 
be  truth  in  his  assertion  that  I  had  separated  you  two. 
I  am,  oh,  so  ready  to  lay  it  all  to  my  own  misconcep- 
tion !  One  word  from  you  will  suffice  !  You  see,  I 
was  misled  ;  not  only  by  Atherton,  but  by  that  scene 
on  the  porch  at  your  home,  when  Leigh  coupled  my 
name  with  an  oath — when  he  dashed  the  chair  to  the 
floor.  Was  not  it  natural  to  infer  that  he  was  plead- 
ing to  be  reinstated  in  your  affections  ?  Forgive  me  ; 
it  was  not  a  very  unreasonable  inference,  was  it  ?" 

He  had  spoken  rapidly — excitedly  at  the  close,  for 
her  hand  had  been  slowly  withdrawn  from  his,  and 
he  did  not  know  how  to  interpret  this.  Her  face  was 
averted,  resting  on  her  other  hand,  her  elbow  on  the 
back  of  the  sofa. 

There  was  a  pause.  The  silence  confounded  him. 
Still,  he  said  :  "Will  not  you  give  me  the  assurance 
I  crave?" — then,  passionately,  "Can  not  you  give 
it?" 

Still  there  was  no  answer. 

Then  he  lost  hope.     After  all,  he  had  been  right 


186  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

in  his  interpretation,  he  told  himself,  and  all  was 
over  between  them  forever.  At  least,  he  had  spoken 
frankly  ;  had  given  her  the  opportunity  of  denying. 
But  oh,  the  cruel  disappointment !  After  a  moment, 
he  resumed  :  "  Well,  happiness  is  destined  to  pass  me 
by.  The  cup  must  ever,  it  seems,  be  dashed  from  my 
hand  as  it  nears  my  lips  !  It  is  very  hard,  for  now 
only  do  I  learn  what  love  really  means  !  And  I  can 
not  control  that  love.  It  enters  into  every  phase  of 
my  life  and  casts  its  shadow  and  its  sunshine  forever 
across  my  path.  My  whole  soul  cries  out  for  you, 
and  yet  you  are  as  far  from  me  as  the  South  is  from 
the  North  ! " 

Of  course  he  meant  no  especial  significance  in  this 
choice  of  simile  ;  but  it  was  an  unfortunate  choice, 
nevertheless  ;  it  was  liable  to  misinterpretation. 

He  had  been  either  too  excited  to  notice  his  com- 
panion's suspicious  silence,  or  had  interpreted  it  as  a 
tacit  acknowledgment  of  fickleness.  Her  face  being 
averted,  he  had  read  no  warning  there. 

He  resumed  :  "I  am  well  aware  that  I  am  what 
many  persons  would  call  quixotic ;  but  I  can  not 
change.  To  most  men,  no  doubt,  it  would  be  an 
added  incentive  to  have  to  win  you  from  a  former  at- 
tachment—  " 

He  got  no  further.  She  arose  slowly  from  the 
lounge,  and  confronted  him.  Her  face  was  as  mar- 
ble ;  as  livid  and  as  cold.  When  she  spoke  her  voice 
was  harsh  and  strange. 

"Well,  sir,  is  there  anything  more  ?" 

"Anything  more!"  he  stammered,  a  streak  of 
doubt  dawning  upon  his  soul. 

"If  not,"  she  resumed,  "I  should  like  to  return 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  187 

to  Mrs.  Underdunk — no,"  with  almost  a  sob,  "to  my 
mother." 

Perry  sprang  to  his  feet :  "  One  word  of  denial, 
Miss  Chester,  and  I  will  confess  that  I  have  been  all 
wrong  ;  have  misjudged  you  ! " 

Their  positions  were  strangely  reversed.  He,  the 
strong  character,  was  pleading  to  be  forgiven  ;  plead- 
ing for  the  words  which  would  prove  him  to  have 
been  unjust. 

But  it  was  too  late.  He  had  passed  his  Eubicon. 
It  might  be  well  for  men  at  times — not  too  often,  but 
now  and  then — if  they  could  exchange  their  syntheti- 
cal conclusions  for  a  woman's  less  logical  but  more  in- 
tuitive perceptions, 

Chattertou  had  interrupted  him:  "I  am  not  so 
much  occupied  with  your  opinion  of  me,  sir,  as  I  am 
with  mine  of  you.  But  I  absolutely  refuse  to  discuss 
the  matter." 

As  she  arose,  Perry  flung  himself  between  her  and 
the  door  :  "  One  word  more,  and  I  will  detain  you  no 
longer.  I  now  have  no  hope  of  ever  winning  you ; 
but  for  the  sake  of  at  once  my  peace  of  mind  and  my 
eternal  regret,  tell  me  that  Atherton  Leigh  lied  to 
me ;  lied  as  to  fact  as  well  as  to  detail ! " 

But  she  would  not.  A  man  under  similar  circum- 
stances would  have  complied,  holding  that  revenge 
were  best  secured  by  showing  the  other  the  injustice 
done  him.  Not  so  a  woman.  She  well  knows  that 
to  leave  the  lover  in  uncertainty  is  the  more  refined 
revenge.  If  the  charge  against  Chatterton  had  been 
more  direct,  had  partaken  more  of  an  accusation  than 
of  an  insinuation,  she  could  have  more  easily  forgiven; 
for,  unfathomable  as  it  seems,  her  sex  resent  more 


188  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

bitterly  the  hint  that  they  might  have  done,  than  the 
charge  that  they  did. 

Perry  stepped  to  one  side,  and  she  passed  him ;  but 
he  hurried  forward  as  she  reached  the  door,  to  hold 
back  the  heavy  portiere  for  her  to  pass  out.  Then  he 
offered  his  arm,  which,  however,  she  declined  to 
accept. 

Many  couples  had  passed  the  open  door,  and  as 
many  comments  had  been  made  of  these  two  who  were 
now  leaving  their  retreat.  But  how  far  from  the  truth 
all  these  had  been  !  How  little  others  can  know  of 
our  lives  !  They  see  us  in  our  soul's  disguise,  yet  learn 
nothing  of  the  emotion  spending  itself  behind  the 
loup.  Atherton  —  Mrs.  Dare  still  on  his  arm — had 
seen  the  couple  in  the  library,  and  had  ground  his 
teeth  with  rage,  even  while  he  laughed  the  louder  and 
gazed  the  more  impassionedly  into  the  fine,  willing 
eyes  of  the  woman  by  his  side. 

Perry  and  his  companion  wended  their  silent  way 
to  where  Mrs.  Chester  sat  dejectedly  in  her  chair, 
listening  to  a  tall,  iron-gray-bearded  man.  The  heir- 
ess to  the  bluest  blood  in  old  Virginia  was  suffering 
as  a  martyr  to  the  exigencies  of  society,  in  that  she 
had  to  listen  with  some  show  of  interest  to  the  vapid 
talk  of  a  creature  who  not  only  did  not  appear  to  have 
had  ancestry  of  his  own,  but  who  had  shown  absolute 
indifference  on  hearing  of  the  Fotheringales  of  West- 
moreland, and  who  had  led  the  talk  away  from  the 
absorbing  topic  of  genealogy  to  tell  of  the  ghastly 
lives  of  miserable  wretches  in  the  Siberian  mines, 
whither,  it  seemed,  he  had  gone  to  collect  material  for 
a  work  on  "Social  Contrasts." 

Liberated  by  the  arrival  of  her  daughter,  Mrs. 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  189 

Chester  gladly  acquiesced  in  the  request  to  return 
home. 

Felix  controlled  his  emotions  as  best  he  could  and 
got  through  creditably  enough  with  those  little  civili- 
ties which  are  indispensable  to  every  situation  in  life 
— if  we  are  being  led  to  dinner  or  to  execution,  if  we 
are  dining  or  dying.  Chatterton  kept  her  face  averted, 
and  murmured  merely  what  was  absolutely  necessary 
at  parting. 

The  ball  was  over.  A  crowd  of  tired  humanity 
gathered  on  the  stairs  in  their  hurry  to  reach  their 
carriages  and  their  homes.  Silken  and  satin  wraps, 
ulsters  and  top-coats  were  gathered  over  rebellious 
hearts,  satisfied  hearts,  throbbing  hearts  and  torpid 
hearts,  for  the  fruit  of  the  evening  had  been  a  thou- 
sand new  complexities  entering  into  already  overbur- 
dened lives.  Many  maskers  had  exchanged  masks  ; 
some  that  had  grinned,  now  sulked,  and  some  that 
had  wept,  now  smiled. 

At  length  the  last  guest  was  gone,  and  Polliver — 
a  little  less  unhappy  and  a  little  less  grammatical  than 
usual,  because  that  in  vino  veritas — stumbled  up  to 
bed.  Outside,  a  hungry,  homeless  waif  crept  away 
from  the  darkening  house,  for  the  tired  servants 
were  extinguishing  the  electric  lights  and  the  dissi- 
pated-looking, dripping  wax  candles,  Mrs.  Polliver 
Jones  having  enjoyed  "the  pleasure  of  your  com- 
pany." 

But  the  night  was  not  over  for  Perry.  As  he 
wearily  and  listlessly  turned  up  the  lamp  in  his  study, 
his  eyes  fell  upon  an  envelope  addressed  to  him.  He 
instantly  recognized  the  hand-writing,  although  it 
was  blurred  and  indistinct.  With  a  cold  presentiment 


190  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

of  impending  evil  he  tore  open  Mrs.  Denvers's  note, 
and  there  read  these  words  : 

"  For  God's  sake  come  to  me  at  once  ! " 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THERE  are  few,  I  imagine,  that  have  not  faced  a 
period  when  fortune  was  neither  hot  nor  cold  and 
wished  that  it  might  be  either  hot  or  cold — anything 
rather  than  lukewarm. 

Suspense  is  by  no  means  the  most  bearable  form  of 
misfortune.  Is  it  not  restricting  the  truth  to  say 
only  of  hope,  rather  than  of  all  unqualified  expecta- 
tion, that  its  deferment  "  maketh  the  heart  sick  ?  " 

From  a  life  of  such  merely  material  luxury  that  it 
had  of  necessity  driven  her  to  wish  for  the  only  thing 
of  which  she  was  deprived,  the  immaterial,  Mrs. 
Denvers  had  suddenly  been  brought  face  to  face  with 
the  prospect  of  a  life  of  comparative  poverty.  This 
meant  little  to  her  who  deemed  it  easy  enough  to  sur- 
render a  carriage  or  an  opera-box,  and  who  had  not  as 
yet  learned  that  loss  of  material  wealth  entailed  loss 
of  consideration  and,  often,  loss  of  friends.  But  an 
effect  of  the  change  in  her  condition  was  obvious  to 
her  at  once — the  change  in  her  husband.  He  grew 
first  silent,  then  morose,  then  surly — cynical  he  had 
always  been.  The  next  change  was  more  distressing 
still  to  her  who  had  never  known  him  in  a  melting 
mood.  God  help  those  who  systematically  repel  af- 
fection, kindness,  sympathy  !  The  time  is  sure  to 
come  when  they  will  wail  for  these  as  the  drowning 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  191 

man  cries  out,  sinking  in  the  wild  waste  of  waters, 
who  finds  to  his  despair  no  outstretched  hand  to  save 
him.  It  can  not  be  otherwise.  One  can  be  trained  to 
bear  almost  anything  but  returning  demonstration. 
It  requires  divine  charity  to  go  half-way  to  meet  the 
prodigal  who  has  for  years  preferred  even  husks  to  the 
love  which  for  so  long  could  have  been  had  for  the 
asking. 

Denvers  did  not  bear,  as  we  have  said,  adverse 
fortune  dumbly.  Such  heroism  would  at  once  have 
secured  to  him  the  sympathy  he  craved ;  but  no,  he 
moaned  over  each  fresh  disaster,  and  alternately 
charged  Fate,  his  wife,  and  even  Heaven  itself  with 
his  misfortune.  It  was  during  this  phase  that  Perry 
had  discovered  that  his  friend  suffered.  No  wonder 
she  could  not  tell  him  of  her  cross  ! 

So  carefully  had  the  cunning  Wall-Street  operator 
covered  his  tracks  that  no  one  but  his  wife  shared  the 
knowledge  of  his  impending  downfall.  Even  she  was 
not  informed  of  the  extent  of  his  loss,  although  again 
and  again  she  urged  him  to  tell  her. 

But  there  had  come  a  lull.  By  some  mysterious 
means  Denvers  had  succeeded  in  at  least  temporarily 
stemming  the  tide  of  ill-fortune.  Not  knowing  the 
nature,  the  efficacy,  or  even  the  honesty  of  the  means 
by  which  the  stay  had  been  secured,  Mrs.  Denvers 
could  show  no  more  elation  now  than  she  had  before 
shown  fear.  This  was  a  fresh  grievance  to  her  hus- 
band, and,  now  that  the  danger  of  sordid  poverty  was 
less  imminent,  he  plucked  up  courage,  and  put  his 
wife  once  more  in  Coventry  for  her  sins.  And  then 
came  the  lukewarm  state  of  which  we  have  spoken, 
and  Mrs.  Denvers  felt  her  cross  doubly  heavy. 


192  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

In  all  the  late  changes  and  fluctuations  of  fortune 
she  had  shown  indomitable  fortitude.  Not  one  angry, 
peevish,  or  reproachful  word  or  look  had  escaped  her. 
Nobly  she  bore  the  evidence  of  abject  fear  as  well  the 
no  less  repulsive  revilings  of  the  poor  wretch  who  had 
trusted  in  his  false  gods — cupidity  and  selfishness — to 
bring  fire  to  his  altar,  and  who,  when  no  fire  came, 
"cut  himself  with  knives."  Bad  as  was  this  state,  it 
was  not  as  bad  as  the  suspense  which  followed,  when 
his  silent  coming  and  going  were  as  the  visitation  and 
vanishing  of  a  ghost. 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  of  the  Polliver  Jones's 
ball,  Denvers  had  gone  down  to  Wall  Street  at  an 
earlier  hour  than  was  his  wont.  His  wife  wearily  left 
her  sleepless  couch  to  face  the  uncertainty,  the  possi- 
bilities and  the  dread  of  a  new  day.  As  she  gazed 
around  on  the  many  luxuries  of  her  home,  she  mur- 
mured the  well-known  words  : 

"  'Tis  better  to  be  lowly  born, 
And  range  with  humble  livers  in  content, 
Than  to  be  perked  up  in  a  glistering  grief, 
And  wear  a  golden  sorrow." 

She  idly  turned  over  with  her  hand  the  ostenta- 
tiously large  card  of  invitation  for  the  ball  that  night. 
Then  she  realized,  with  a  sense  of  pitying  wonder, 
how  very  short  the  time  was  since  the  anticipation  of 
a  ball  had  ceased  to  afford  her  agreeable  sensations. 
And  now — well,  yes,  she  had  one  regret,  she  would 
not  see  Perry  and  Chatterton  together. 

She  had  quite  made  up  her  mind  to  the  fact  that 
these  two  would  marry,  and  had  again  and  again  told 
herself  that  it  was  well  so  ;  and  yet  she  sighed.  Ke- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  193 

member,  she  did  not  love  her  husband — could  not 
love  him  now  had  heaven  been  the  prize  or  hell  the 
penalty  !  As  we  have  before  said,  she  played  no  games 
of  hide  and  seek  with  her  conscience,  but  was,  on  the 
contrary,  a  most  honest  casuist.  If  Perry  had  come 
to  her,  and  had  urged  ungovernable  love  to  the  verge 
and  confine  of  conviction,  she  would  possibly  have 
admired  him  less  than  before — yet,  who  shall  dare 
assert  even  this  confidently  of  any  human  being  under 
such  circumstances — but  would  have  liked  him  cer- 
tainly none  the  less,  while  as  certainly  she  would  have 
sent  him  away  not  only  rebuked,  but  convinced  that 
he  had  made  a  fatal  mistake.  But,  when  it  came  to 
a  question  of  liberty  of  thought,  she  brooked  no  con- 
trol save  that  imposed  by  intuitive  delicacy.  If  she 
had  loved  her  husband — if  she  could  have  loved  him 
— neither  Felix  Perry  nor  any  other  man  would  have 
been  more  to  her  than  a  pleasing  figure  on  the  disk 
of  idle  fancy.  But,  as  matters  stood  with  her,  she 
could  no  more  keep  down  the  hazy  mirage  of  what 
''might  have  been  "  than  she  could  control  the  phan- 
tasmagoria of  a  dream.  When  the  day  arrives  that 
virtue  is  recognized  as  being  the  triumph  of  the  soul 
over  real  and  tangible  temptation,  and  not  merely  the 
absence  of  temptation,  the  Mrs.  Denvers  of  this  world 
will  be  counted  many  degrees  more  righteous  than 
those  women  who  have  their  highest  type  in  insensi- 
bility to  the  most  natural  of  all  emotions.  Expurgate 
the  capacity  for  loving  and  the  inclination  to  love 
from  a  woman,  and  you  may  have  a  saint  whose  can- 
onized bones  are  ready  for  a  niche  ;  and  yet  you  have 
but  a  sorry  saint  after  all,  for  she  must  have  lacked 
the  chief  incentive  to  be  anything  else. 
13 


194:  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

Well,  the  hours  passed  leadenly  by,  the  day  sank 
slowly  to  its  close,  and  darkness  crept  on  by  wavy 
degrees,  now  with  a  perceptible  gain,  now  checked  by 
an  unexpected  stand  of  retreating  day.  Snow  was 
falling  fast ;  the  flakes,  gliding,  ghost-like,  past  the 
window,  momentarily  transformed  into  glittering  crys- 
tals by  the  electric  light  in  the  street.  Inside  the 
library  a  softly-shaded  lamp  cast  an  indulgent  halo 
over  books  which  lay  invitingly  on  the  table — books 
which  by  their  very  binding  pleaded  eloquently  to  be 
allowed  to  reveal  their  hidden  treasures  to  sympathetic 
souls.  But  Mrs.  Denvers  was  not  in  a  mood  to  re- 
spond to  such  blandishments.  Care  brooded  over  her 
soul,  and  care  admits  of  no  divided  allegiance. 

'Tis  well  for  humanity  that  time  dulls  the  memory 
of  the  past,  and  that  impenetrable  mystery  veils  the 
face  of  the  future.  The  present  is  absorbing  enough, 
with  its  many  storms  and  few  sun-rays,  without  its 
dead  sister's  apparition  or  its  unborn  sister's  premoni- 
tions. Mrs.  Denvers's  present  was  laden  with  unhappi- 
ness.  Hitherto  she  had  consoled  herself  with  the 
unspoken  creed  that  the  Fates  were  quite  ready  to 
strike  a  bargain  with  the  individual,  provided  its 
terms  were  favorable  to  the  triumvirate  ;  and  she  had, 
not  unreasonably  after  the  test  of  ten  years,  con- 
vinced herself  that  they  had  been  propitiated.  Had 
she  not  agreed  to  purchase  worldly  comforts,  prefer- 
ment, and,  above  all,  an  unsullied  name  at  the  price 
of  happiness  ?  She  had  faithfully  adhered  to  her  part 
of  the  fancied  compact,  although  she  knew  herself 
peculiarly  fitted  for  a  life  having  its  interests  on  a 
higher  plane,  only  to  find  at  this  late  day  that  there 
had  been  no  real  bargain. 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  195 

Her  musings  were  interrupted  by  the  sound  of  the 
closing  of  the  street-door,  and  she  knew  that  her  hus- 
band had  returned.  It  is  not  loud-mouthed  ranting 
on  the  stage  of  life  that  tells  the  story  of  domestic  in- 
felicity, it  is  the  pantomime.  No  words  could  have 
more  eloquently  told  the  sad  tale  of  incompatibility 
and  disunion  than  the  dejected  pose  of  the  immovable 
figure  on  the  library  sofa  and  the  listless  step  on  the 
stairs.  No  light,  no  real  life  in  such  a  home.  What 
greeting  had  she  to  expect  ?  At  the  best,  cynicism 
and  sneers ;  at  the  worst,  reproaches  and  wailing. 
And  he  ?  Well,  at  best,  tears  ;  at  worst,  silence. 

Slowly  the  foot-falls  sounded  in  the  hall,  and  were 
presently  stilled  in  the  heavy  carpet  of  the  library. 

Whatever  mask  the  ruined  speculator  may  have 
worn  "in  the  street"  to  hide  his  distorted  features 
was  now  cast  aside.  His  bloodshot  eyes,  pale,  sunken 
cheeks,  and  wistful,  haunted  look  told  of  real  and  un- 
concealed agony. 

Scarcely  glancing  toward  his  wife,  and  with  no 
word  of  greeting,  Denvers  approached  the  fire  and 
rested  his  arm  wearily  upon  the  mantle  as  he  gazed 
unspeculatively  at  the  glowing  embers. 

"Is  there  no  change  for  the  better,  Clarence  ?" 

"Yes,"  he  answered.  But  she  did  not  ask  further 
question,  for  the  tone  told  her  a  sneer  was  to  follow. 
"You  do  not  congratulate  me,"  he  resumed.  "You 
do  not  ask  to  know  the  cause  of  my  happiness  ?  " 

"  What  is  it,  Clarence  ?  " 

"  Simply  this,"  he  cried,  in  a  hoarse,  rasping  voice, 
"uncertainty  is  over  !  Did  not  you  say  that  was  the 
heaviest  sorrow  ?  I  suppose  you  will  now  tell  me  to 
be  resigned ;  to  trust  in  Heaven ;  to  bend  beneath 


196  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

the  rod  ?  Will  that  pay  my  debts  ?  Will  that  restore 
my  good  name  and  patch  up  my  reputation  ?  If  so, 
'  let  us  pray ' !  " 

Language  can  not  tell  of  the  bitterness,  the  abject 
desperation  of  both  words  and  tone.  The  poor  wretch 
might  have  stood  thus  for  some  Dore  to  pencil  as 
Legion,  possessed  of  many  devils. 

After  a  pause  he  resumed  :  "  To-morrow  the  world 
will  know  all.  You  and  I  are  beggars." 

"  Is  it  no  worse  than  that,  Denvers  ?  " 

"  Worse  ;  worse  I    What  could  be  worse  ?  " 

"  Others  might  have  been  involved  in  our  ruin." 

"  And  do  you  call  that  'worse'  ?"  he  responded. 
"  What  care  I  for  others  !  By  the  way,  another  per- 
son will  be  a  loser.  Can  you  guess  who  ?  " 

She  forced  herself  to  say  "No." 

"  Prepare  for  hysterics  !  Your  own  particular 
friend,  Felix  Perry,  will  mourn  our  downfall  for  other 
than  unselfish  reasons  ! " 

Slowly  she  raised  her  head.  "  Felix  Perry  ?  "  she 
queried,  in  an  unsteady  voice. 

"  Yes,"  cried  her  husband,  with  savage  exultation, 
"yes,  Felix  Perry.  I  am  glad  of  it;  yes,  glad!  I 
could  not  breathe  if  no  one  else  were  involved — and 
Perry  !  Why,  it  keeps  me  from  madness  ! " 

"  Did  he — did  he  ask  you  to  invest  money  for 
him?" 

"Ask  me  !  Not  he  !  I  borrowed  it  of  him — ten 
thousand  dollars — and  the  fool  demanded  no  security  ! 
This  paltry  sum  gave  me  a  few  days'  respite  ;  it  staved 
off  the  more  voracious  wolves.  But  it  is  gone  ;  every 
damned  cent  of  it,  and  I  am  glad  he  will  lose  it  all. 
Yes,  glad— glad!" 


A    VIRGINIA    INHERITANCE.  197 

His  wife  arose,  her  face  white  and  set. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  you  have  sunken  so 
low  as  to  borrow  money  without  giving  security  when 
you  knew  you  were  on  the  brink  of  ruin — and  from 
the  man  you  have  habitually  belittled  ?  " 

"  Ah,  you  are  moved  at  last !  The  moment  your 
model  hero  is  touched  you  wince.  However,  be  com- 
forted ;  he  has  many  companions  in  misfortune.  I 
shall  be  '  mourned  by  a  host  of  sympathetic  friends,' 
have  no  fear  !  Ha,  ha  !  to  think  that  your  paragon 
is  hit !  Why,  how  white  you  are  !  Poor  thing,  how 
you  suffer  on  account  of  your  ruined,  disgraced  hus- 
band !  You  swore  'for  better,  for  worse,'  remember, 
and  you  are  one  to  lay  great  stress  upon  such  formu- 
lae. Curse  it,  curse  it ! "  dashing  his  fist  upon  a  deli- 
cate Sevres  vase  and  shattering  it  into  fragments,  "  to 
be  caught  like  this  !  No  way  of  escape — to  be  caged 
like  this !  The  whole  world  has  been  against  me, 
headed  by  my  wife  !  Oh,  for  some  scheme  of  revenge 
on  all  mankind — some  scheme  ! " 

Eepeating  these  words  nmtteringly,  the  bankrupt 
rather  staggered  than  walked  out  of  the  library  and 
through  the  passage  to  his  own  room,  where  he  could 
be  heard  pacing  up  and  down  restlessly. 

Hours  passed.  A  servant  brought  a  tray  to  Mrs. 
Denvers ;  she  tried  to  eat,  but  the  food  seemed  to 
choke  her,  and  she  felt  oppressed  by  the  presence  of 
the  silent  servant,  her  diseased  imagination  fancying 
that  she  detected  on  his  stolid  face  signs  of  curiosity. 
So  she  motioned  him  away  with  the  untasted  food, 
and  was  again  alone. 

Later  she  summoned  her  maid,  and  gave  orders  to 
have  the  house  closed,  and  not  to  sit  up  for  her. 


198  -A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

It  was  a  long  vigil.  Who  has  not  known  some 
such  a  night  ?  A  night  when  no  echo  comes  from 
the  ceaseless  cry  for  mercy  ;  when  some  formula  of 
prayer  or  some  sentence  that  has  lingered  in  the  mind, 
in  repetition  loses  all  revelancy,  and  seems  to  the  dis- 
eased brain  but  idle,  meaningless  babble,  which  must, 
nevertheless,  be  repeated  over  and  over  again  a  hun- 
dred times.  Thus  have  men  gone  mad,  and  have  for- 
ever thereafter  repeated  some  phrase  which,  though 
meaningless  to  others,  is  the  sole  connecting  link  with 
the  forgotten  past.  Dora  Denvers  muttered  to  her- 
self many  times,  in  weary  iteration  and  almost  uncon- 
scious of  the  meaning  of  her  words,  "ten  thousand 
dollars  ;  ten  thousand  dollars  ! " 

It  is  doubtful  if  we  are  parted  from  anything  in 
life  by  so  cruel  a  wrench  a,s  from  the  conviction  that 
we  are  pedestaled  to  the  gaze  of  those  in  whose  good 
opinion  we  have  found  our  chief  satisfaction.  Till 
now  Mrs.  Denvers  had  felt  herself  only  indirectly  im- 
plicated in  her  husband's  downfall.  To  be  sure  she 
had  with  bitterness  of  soul  recognized  that  she  would 
be  an  object  of  pity  in  the  eyes  of  her  friends  and  her 
acquaintance,  but  not  till  this  moment  had  she  real- 
ized that,  even  in  a  remote  degree,  she  would  herself 
feel  a  sense  of  personal  disgrace.  Of  course  it  only 
meant  that  the  facts  of  their  downfall  were  being 
pressed  home  to  her  consciousness  by  their  first  palpa- 
ble results ;  but  she  did  not  recognize  this.  From 
the  moment  she  had  been  told  of  this  loan  of  Perry's 
she  had  bitterly  reproached  herself,  arguing  that  it 
was  all  her  fault  in  having  allowed  Felix  so  plainly 
to  see  her  mental  distress  as  to  suggest  to  him  its 
cause.  Thereafter,  pitying  glances — his  very  silence 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  199 

— told  her  that  he  had  guessed  it  correctly.  And  yet 
he  had — nay,  on  that  very  account  he  had — loaned 
the  money  without  asking  for  security  !  How  noble 
of  him — how  ignoble  of  her  husband  ! 

What  hope  of  happiness  or  of  peace  can  there  be 
where  the  wife  or  the  husband  does  not  think  it  ne- 
cessary to  retain  at  home  the  cloak  of  respectability 
and  honesty  without  which  they  would  not  think  of 
appearing  abroad  ! 

Mrs.  Delivers  had  thrown  herself  upon  the  sofa. 
The  semi-darkness,  the  solitude,  the  pressure  of  lead- 
en care,  all  combined  to  produce  a  highly  wrought, 
nervous  condition.  Sleepless,  harrassed  nights,  and 
care-filled  days  are  hard  enough  to  bear,  God  knows, 
tending  some  loved  one  in  trouble,  in  sickness,  or  in 
dire  distress.  But  they  only  know  the  torture  of 
such  vigils  for  whom  duty  stalks  hand  in  hand  with 
loathing. 

With  slow,  ghostly  cadence  the  hall  clock  struck 
twelve.  The  reverbration  of  the  last  stroke  had  hard- 
ly ceased  when  Mrs.  Denvers  heard  her  husband's 
door  open  and  stealthy  footsteps  near  the  library. 
To  her  excited  senses  it  seemed  as  if  there  was  some- 
thing alarming  in  this.  She  would  have  called  him 
by  name,  but  her  parched  lips  refused  to  utter  a 
sound.  She  was  usually  courageous,  but  watching 
and  misery  had  unstrung  her  nerves.  Slowly,  mys- 
teriously, the  steps  approached  the  room  and  stopped 
at  the  partly  closed  door.  Would  he  never  open  it  ? 
Slowly  it  moved  till  it  disclosed  the  man  behind  it. 

There  he  stood,  pale  and  haggard  as  before,  but 
with  an  added  wildness  of  aspect,  and  a  demoniacal 
light  in  his  eyes.  But  now  that  he  was  actually  in 


200  -A-    VIRGINIA    INHERITANCE. 

her  presence,  a  tangible  something,  her  courage  some- 
what revived  ;  and  yet  she  said  nothing  as  he  crossed 
the  room  and  stood  over  her.  She  knew  well  that  no 
word  she  could  utter  would  soothe  him  ;  on  the  con- 
trary, she  felt  that  anything  she  could  say  would  be 
misconstrued,  and  might  arouse  him  to  an  ungovern- 
able pitch,  possibly  to  some  maddened  deed.  There- 
fore, she  merely  met  his  glance  with  a  calm  front  of 
assumed  fearlessness. 

"  When  I  am  dead,"  he  said,  with  no  emotion, 
but  as  one  who  recites  by  rote,  "  I  shall  return  to 
haunt  you — if,  indeed,  there  is  anything  but  annihila- 
tion after  death.  You  have  never  cared  for  me.  You 
have  been  cold  and  self-contained  and  I  have  hated 
you  for  it.  If  I  could  have  broken  your  spirit  I 
would  have  done  it."  His  voice  gathered  volume  and 
passion.  "  You  were  against  me  always.  I  had  no 
chance,  for  I  found  no  sympathy  anywhere — " 

"'Clarence!" 

"  — no  sympathy  anywhere  !  But  come,  I  will 
forgive  you  everything  if  you  will  help  me  to  devise 
some  plan  by  which  I  can  drag  down  others  to  ruin 
and  death ;  drag  them  down  to  hell  with  me  ! " 

"Come,  Clarence,  do  get  some  rest ;  you  are  nerv- 
ous and  unstrung.  I  will  do  what  I  can  for  you  to- 
morrow ;  I  will  do  as  you  wish  if  only —  " 

"  — If  only  you  can  get  me  off  safely  to  bed  I 
Promises,  my  sweet  wife,  are  like  pie-crust — /  ought 
to  know  !  None  better  !  If  1  could  only  drag  some 
one  down  with  me.  Not  you  !  You  I  reserve  for  a 
different  fate." 

She  had  risen  to  her  knees  on  the  sofa,  and  now 
held  out  her  hands  to  him  with  a  gesture  of  supplica- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  201 

tion.  But  the  desperate  man  grasped  her  by  the 
wrists  and  flung  her  violently  back  upon  the  lounge, 
then  strode  out  through  the  door,  muttering  impre- 
cations and  blasphemies  as  he  retired  through  the 
echoing  hall-way  to  his  room. 

In  a  moment  Dora  Denvers  was  on  her  feet.  She 
was  terribly  excited  and  frightened,  and  trembled  to 
such  a  degree  that  she  had  to  catch  hold  of  the  sofa 
to  keep  herself  from  falling.  Something  must  be 
done  at  once  ;  he  might  kill  her  ! 

Should  she  call  the  servants  ?  No,  only  notoriety 
and  disgrace  could  follow.  She  would  send  for  her 
physician. 

She  pressed  the  messenger  alarm,  and,  after  pen- 
ning a  hasty  'entreaty  to  the  doctor  to  come  at  once, 
rapidly  but  silently  descended  the  stairs,  desiring 
herself  to  admit  the  messenger.  Soon  he  came,  and 
a  few  whispered  instructions  through  the  partly  opened 
front  door  sent  him  off  on  his  errand. 

The  physician  lived  close  by,  but  to  the  expectant 
woman  it  seemed  hours  before  the  boy  returned.  When 
he  did  come  she  eagerly  listened  to  his  report — the 
doctor  had  been  called  to  an  urgent  case  in  the 
country. 

With  what  crushing  weight  such  disappointment 
bears  one  down  !  In  her  bewilderment  Mrs.  Denvers 
allowed  the  boy  to  depart.  Then  came  moments 
freighted  for  her  with  confused  ideas  and  wild,  im- 
possible plans.  Should  she  send  for  some  other  phy- 
sician ?  No,  she  shrank  with  inexpressible  repugnance 
from  revealing  to  a  stranger  the  terrible  condition  of 
affairs — she,  who  had  held  her  head  so  high  ! 

Should  she  leave  the  house  and  seek  refuge  ;  but 


202  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

with  whom  ?  Besides,  she  could  not  leave  the  crazed 
man.  Could  she  stand  the  strain  till  morning  ?  Any- 
way, she  could  not  remain  inactive  ;  she  would  mount 
the  stairs  and  listen  at  his  door. 

Slowly  and  painfully  she  dragged  her  weary  limbs 
to  the  second  floor,  and,  her  heart  beating  in  her 
bosom  with  cruel  strokes,  approached  her  husband's 
room. 

For  a  moment  she  heard  nothing.  Then  a  faint, 
clicking  sound  reached  her  ears.  At  first  she  could 
not  make  out  what  it  meant;  then  it  flashed  upon 
her — he  was  loading  his  pistol ! 

Faint  with  fear  she  took  a  step  toward  the  bell  to 
summon  the  servants — but  no,  they  could  not  help 
her  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  sound  of  voices  might  pre- 
cipitate the  event  her  horrified  senses  told  her  was 
imminent.  And  yet  she  must  have  some  one  to  pro- 
tect her.  She  was  overcome  with  alarm,  with  per- 
sonal dread — had  not  he  threatened  her  ! 

Suddenly  a  new  thought  passed  through  her  brain. 
It  was  not  a  wise  or  a  prudent  thought,  and  yet  it 
roused  her  to  instant  action. 

She  glided  into  the  library ;  again  wrote  a  note, 
and,  touching  the  alarm,  descended  to  her  post  at  the 
front  door. 

When  the  errand-boy  arrived  she  carefully  in- 
structed him  to  ring  the  bell  of  the  apartment-house, 
to  which  the  note  was  addressed,  until  answered  by 
the  janitor.  If  successful  in  delivering  the  note,  the 
boy  need  not  return. 

The  envelope  was  addressed  to  Felix  Perry — had 
not  she  promised  to  apply  to  him  if  ever  in  need  of 
assistance  or  advice  ? 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  203 

Women,  as  has  been  beforesaid,  are  gifted  with 
wonderful  intuitive  sagacity.  It  is  at  times  more  re- 
liable than  more  complicated  mental  deduction.  But 
at  times  storms  of  passion  or  of  excitement  affect 
the  reliability  of  the  instinct,  as  violent  electric  dis- 
turbances have  been  known  to  reverse  the  magnetic 
needle  till  it  pointed  to  the  nether  pole. 

Mrs.  Denvers  now  only  knew  the  impulse  of  dread, 
and,  longing  for  protection,  she  turned  toward  Perry 
as  a  child  unreasoningly  and  unquestioningly  turns 
to  its  best  friend. 

She  crouched  by  the  front  door,  and  waited,  wish- 
ing to  catch  the  sound  of  Perry's  approaching  foot- 
steps before  he  could  ring  the  front-door  bell. 

The  wind  had  risen,  and  now  swept  about  the 
streets  with  that  unearthly  moaning  which  suggests 
the  wailing  of  lost  souls.  Inside,  on  the  hall  floor, 
her  cheek  resting  against  the  insensible  door,  her  di- 
sheveled hair  about  her  shivering  shoulders,  her  face 
pale  with  fright  and  horror,  lay  the  woman  who  was 
the  envy  of  all  who  knew  her — the  rich,  the  courted, 
the  proud,  the  beautiful  Mrs.  Denvers. 

She  did  not  know  that  she  was  cold,  scarcely  knew 
that  she  suffered.  Her  whole  being  was  concentrated 
in  longing  for  the  arrival  of  him  who  was  in  some  un- 
explained way  to  save  her. 

She  had  remembered,  hazily  and  indistinctly,  that 
he  was  at  the  Pol  liver  Jones's  ball,  and  had  known 
she  would  have  to  await  his  return  to  his  rooms  before 
he  could  come  to  her.  If  her  husband  had  appeared 
above  her  or  on  the  stairs,  doubtless  she  would  have 
escaped  to  the  street.  But  she  did  not  argue  this  out 
with  herself.  A  weight  was  pressing  on  her  brain, 


204  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

she  scarcely  knew  what  it  meant,  she  only  knew  that 
she  was  waiting  for  Perry. 

As  the  cold  crept  through  her  she  became  more 
numb  and  confused,  till  every  faculty  seemed  merged 
in  the  sense  of  hearing,  and  her  whole  soul  listened 
for  the  expected  footfalls. 

Just  as  the  clock  struck  three,  they  came. 

She  had  only  strength  enough  to  drag  herself  up 
by  the  knob  of  the  door,  and  to  turn  it  convulsively 
as  she  gasped,  "  Save  me,  Felix  ! " 

With  consternation  on  his  face  he  entered,  bring- 
ing an  icy  blast  and  a  gust  of  snow  in  with  him,  just 
in  time  to  catch  the  falling  form  of  the  fainting 
woman,  and  to  carry  her  to  the  hall  lounge.  Hastily 
removing  his  snow-covered  overcoat,  he  returned  to 
her  side.  By  the  feeble  gas-jet,  flickering  mysteri- 
ously in  the  still  agitated  air,  he  saw  a  slight  tinge  of 
color  return  to  her  cheeks  ;  then  she  opened  her  eyes. 

"My  poor  friend,"  he  whispered,  divining  that 
secrecy  was  advisable,  "  what  is  it  ?  What  can  I  do 
for  you  ?  " 

Brokenly  and  hurriedly  she  explained  :  "  Denvers 
is  bankrupt.  Nothing  is  left — not  a  dollar  of  your 
money !-"  she  lowered  her  tear-stained  face  to  her 
hands  for  a  moment,  and  then  slowly  lifted  it,  crim- 
son with  mortification.  "  I  only  to-night  learned  of 
your  generosity,  your  noble  but  mistaken  kindness  ! 
Denvers  is  now  in  his  room.  My  God  ! "  starting 
to  her  feet,  "I  heard  him  load  his  pistol !  I  do  not 
know  how  long  ago  it  was  ;  I  sent  for  my  doctor,  but 
he  was  away  from  home.  Then  I  sent  for  you.  You 
made  me  promise  to  call  on  you  when  I  needed  help. 
Help  me,  Mr.  Perry,  for  I  do  not  know  what  to  do ! 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  205 

Denvers  is  not  himself  ;  he  is  crazed,  and  in  a  condi- 
tion to  be  guilty  of  some  violent  act." 

What  could  he  do  but  assure  her  of  his  assistance  ! 
To  save  his  life  he  would  not  have  told  her  she  would 
have  been  wiser  to  have  sent  for  some  one  else — for 
any  one  rather  than  for  him.  No,  he  could  not  tell 
her  this ;  and  now  that  he  was  there,  a  double  duty 
was  imposed — an  incentive  added  for  prompt  and  de- 
cisive action — for  he  realized  that  more  than  the  hus- 
band's life  hung  upon  the  issue.  In  a  moment  his 
mind  was  made  up  ;  he  would  send  for  his  own  physi- 
cian, and  meet  him  outside  of  the  front-door,  so  that 
the  servants — so  that  Denvers  himself — would  suppose 
that  they  had  arrived  together,  leaving  minor  incon- 
sistencies to  explain  themselves. 

"  We  must  have  a  doctor,"  he  said,  hurriedly.  "I 
will  send  for  mine." 

"I  will  ring  for  a  messenger,"  she  answered. 
"  But  come  with  me  to  the  library ;  I  am  afraid  to  go 
alone." 

Together  they  silently  mounted  the  stairs.  When 
the  upper  landing  was  reached,  his  companion,  mo- 
tioning Perry  to  wait,  cautiously  approached  the  door 
of  her  husband's  room  and  stooped  to  listen,  facing 
away  from  the  library. 

Suddenly  Perry,  impelled  by  a  sense  of  unseen, 
impending  danger,  turned  sharply  on  his  heel.  There, 
within  a  dozen  feet  of  him,  stood  Denvers — half- 
clad,  frenzied,  glaring  —  pointing  a  pistol  at  his 
head  ! 

A  flash  of  thought  showed  Felix  not  only  his  own 
peril,  but  the  terrible  danger  to  which  Mrs.  Denvers 
was  exposed,  for  he  read  in  the  frenzied  eyes  murder 


206  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

and  self-destruction.  What  vile  interpretation  would 
not  the  world  place  upon  the  tragedy  !  He  must  sur- 
vive to  protect  her ! 

Sternly  he  gazed  straight  into  the  madman's  eyes, 
but  dared  not  speak  or  move. 

There  was  a  subdued  cry  that  told  him  Mrs.  Den- 
vens  had  turned ;  but  Denvers  did  not  take  his  eyes 
off  his  intended  victim.  Then  he  spoke,  hissing  the 
words  through  his  teeth  :  "  At  last  I  have  my  revenge 
in  my  hands  !  And  such  a  revenge  !  Listen,  woman  ! 
I  will  kill  that  man,  and  then  will  kill  myself.  Do 
you  know  what  the  world  will  infer  ?  Shall  I  tell 
you  ?  Come  here  !  come  here,  I  say  ! "  But  his  eyes 
still  remained  fixed  on  Felix,  and  the  glittering  barrel 
of  the  pistol  was  still  pointed  at  him. 

Trembling,  horrified,  scarcely  conscious,  the  poor 
woman  glided  forward,  her  outstretched  arms  pressed 
against  the  wall. 

"  Come  here  ;  come  to  my  side  ! " 

She  obeyed,  instinct  suggesting  that  she  might 
strike  down  his  pistol-arm. 

But  he  seemed  to  divine  this.     "  Stop  ! " 

Perry  would  have  given  ten  years  of  his  life  to 
have  her  scream,  or  in  any  way  draw  upon  herself  the 
glance  of  the  madman.  Unconsciously  she  obeyed 
the  wish,  horror  prompting  her  : 

"  Kill  me,  Clarence  ! " 

The  eyes  turned  ;  quick  as  thought  Perry  sprang 
forward,  but  the  distance  was  too  great.  He  stum- 
bled and  fell,  a  blinding  tongue  of  fire  flashed  in  his 
eyes — the  bullet  whistled  past  his  head. 

Almost  instantly  there  was  another  shot,  and  then 
another — both  intended  for  Perry.  But  the  frenzied 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  £07 

wife  had  precipitated  herself  upon  the  assassin,  and 
had  clutched  his  outstretched  arm. 

Whether  Denvers  thought  that  he  had  killed  Felix, 
or  whether  a  change  came  over  his  crazed  brain  will 
never  be  known  till  the  books  of  the  Great  Assize  are 
opened,  for,  shaking  himself  free  of  the  fainting 
woman,  he  pressed  the  pistol  to  his  distracted  temple 
— there  was  a  flash,  a  report,  and  Clarence  Delivers 
fell  forward  on  his  face,  a  corpse. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

"THE  Braddox  Patents  Company"  was  as  uncer- 
tain a  quantity  as  ever.  Great  things  were  incubat- 
ing, but  as  yet  not  a  shell  had  cracked. 

Some  two  weeks  prior  to  the  Polliver  Jones's  ball, 
one  of  the  patents  had  been  practically  tested.  The 
result  was  not  calculated  to  give  unqualified  satisfac- 
tion, and  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  was 
called.  General  Chester  sat  in  his  place  at  the  head 
of  the  large,  carved  table,  as  calm  and  complacent  as 
if  in  no  way  personally  implicated.  When  questioned 
as  to  the  cause  of  the  failure  he  responded  that  he  had 
expected  nothing  else ;  and  was  by  Atherton  Leigh 
corroborated  in  the  statement  that  he  had,  months 
before,  said  that  the  spring  was  too  weak  to  turn  the 
cylinder  of  "the  Destroyer."  "Then  why,"  queried 
Mr.  Pringle,  "  was  a  test  made  before  the  spring  was 
replaced  by  a  stronger  one  ?  "  The  inventor  played 


208  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

with  a  paper-knife  as  he  urbanely  responded  that  real- 
ly he  did  not  know. 

General  Battlescar — a  committee  of  one  having  in 
charge  the  testing  of  certain  inventions— here  ex- 
plained that  he  had  ordered  the  test,  supposing  that 
the  patents  were  all  of  them  ready  for  trial,  or  that 
otherwise  they  would  not  have  been  turned  over  to 
him. 

The  president  acknowledged  the  inference  to  be  a 
natural  one  enough  ;  but  added  that,  really,  he  should 
not  be  expected  to  attend  to  such  details.  No  doubt  he 
had  better  resign  the  presidency.  He  was  totally  un- 
acquainted with  business  routine,  and  was  therefore 
unfit  to  administer  an  office  which,  it  seemed,  re- 
quired his  personal  attention  to  every  minute  particu- 
lar. He  had  supposed  that  his  part  was  to  invent, 
and  to  preside  at  the  deliberations  of  the  board  ;  if  he 
had  been  mistaken,  he  had  to  ask  pardon  for  his  igno- 
rance in  such  matters. 

But  protestations  poured  in  upon  him,  and  he  at 
length  consented,  as  a  favor  to  the  others,  to  continue 
their  presiding  officer. 

General  Battlescar  felt  aggrieved.  He  had  been 
lectured,  and  resented  being  lectured.  He  was  con- 
sequently not  averse  to  stirring  things  up  a  bit.  He 
therefore  only  waited  for  the  little  flurry  to  subside 
to  ask  when  the  spring  of  "the  Destroyer"  would  be 
strengthened ;  in  fact,  when  could  he  order  another 
test? 

To  this  the  president  replied  that  he  could  fix  no 
time.  General  Battlescar  then  asked,  "  Why  not  at 
once?"  Then  the  inventor  gave  his  reason.  "The 
Destroyer"  was  an  important  invention  and  would, 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  209 

no  doubt,  in  due  time  receive  attention.  But  not 
now.  Why  should  not  he  give  his  reason  ?  He  was 
quite  sure  he  saw  only  friends  about  him  ;  besides, 
they  were  all  pledged  to  secrecy.  The  fact  was,  his 
time  and  attention  were  fully  taken  up  by  another 
and  an  absorbing  idea.  An  idea  which  was  destined, 
he  felt  justified  in  predicting,  to  be  the  crowning  suc- 
cess of  his  life.  It  was  in  itself -so  vast,  so  stupendous, 
that  for  days  he  had  stood  spellbound,  trembling  on 
the  threshold  of  great  results.  But  of  late  the  thing 
had  taken  more  tangible  shape.  Those  about  him — 
his  fellow-laborers,  and  might  not  he  say  his  friends  ? 
— must  bear  with  him  if  he  appeared  a  little  vague  in 
his  statement  of  the  details  of  this  colossal  concep- 
tion. To  be  brief,  its  compendium  was  this  :  by 
closely  imitating  the  processes  of  Nature,  cloud-bodies 
were  to  be  gathered  at  will — certain  general  condi- 
tions being  present — and  to  be  by  an  ingenious  device 
precipitated  to  the  earth  for  the  purpose  of  artificial 
irrigation. 

There  was  silence  for  a  few  moments.  Then  Gen- 
eral Battlescar  rose  to  his  feet.  His  address  to  the 
chair  had  the  merit  of  brevity.  "  How  ?  " 

The  president  was  surprised,  yes  surprised — he 
himself  averred  it  —  at  the  gentleman's  question. 
Had  not  he,  the  chair,  expressly  stated  that  the  de- 
tails were  as  yet  undeveloped  ?  Did  the  gentleman 
suppose  that  such  marvelous  results  as  those  contem- 
plated by  this  plan  of  artificial  irrigation  could  be 
attained  in  a  day  ?  He,  the  chair,  now  realized  that 
he  had  made  a  premature  revelation  to  the  board. 
He  should  have  waited  for  the  discovery  to  have 
worked  its  way  out  of  its  present  inchoate  state,  and 
14 


210  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

be  ready  for  self-demonstration.  Let  his  excuse  be 
that  he  had  addressed  them  as  friends,  and  not  as 
men  who  were  moved  by  sordid  interests. 

Mr.  Chatterton  whispered  behind  his  hand  to  Mr. 
Dodruff  that  he  feared  they  had  made  a  sad  mistake 
in  putting  General  Battlescar  on  the  board  ;  that  he 
was  a  man  of  no  mental  scope,  sir,  none  in  the  world  ! 
Then  rising  to  his  feet  he  asked  permission  of  the 
chair  to  put  a  question  to  General  Battlescar — did  or 
did  not  that  gentleman  have  faith  in  the  inventions, 
the  patents,  and  the  policy  of  the  company  ? 

The  answer  was  unexpected.  The  grim  veteran 
growled  through  his  beard,  "No,  I  have  not." 

For  a  moment  the  great  Chatterton  was  staggered. 
But  quickly  recovering  himself  he  opened  wide  the 
sluice-gates  of  his  eloquence  upon  the  recalcitrant 
member;  comparing  him  —  prudently  gauging  the 
effect  of  each  epithet  before  hurling  another  at  the 
scornfully  silent  old  general — to  most  of  the  noted 
traitors  known  to  history,  and  ending  with  a  bombas- 
tic offer  to  take  his  stock  at  fifty  per  centum  advance 
above  the  price  he  had  paid  for  it. 

And  then  there  was  a  sensation.  The  old  warrior 
at  once  accepted  the  offer,  having  one  eye  on  the 
"main  chance"  and  the  other  on  the  discomfiture  of 
his  opponent.  Turning  to  the  president  he  offered 
his  resignation  as  a  member  of  the  board,  to  which, 
he  explained,  glancing  sarcastically  at  Mr.  Chatterton, 
he  had  no  further  right  since  he  had  parted  with 
his  stock.  Without  waiting  for  the  formality  of  an 
acceptance,  he  continued,  addressing  the  board  collect- 
ively. "  For  your  sakes,  gentlemen,  I  sincerely  trust 
that  the  other  inventions  will  prove  more  satisfac- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  211 

tory :  that  there  may  not  be  a  weak  spring  here,  a 
flaw  there,  or  a  screw  loose  everywhere.  A  word  of 
advice  at  parting — before  running  the  risk  of  further 
tests,  imitate  the  processes  of  Nature,  and  'artificially 
irrigate '  the  stock  !  " 

In  an  instant  Atherton  Leigh  was  on  his  feet,  pur- 
ple with  rage.  But  General  Chester,  calmly,  yet  de- 
cidedly, bade  him  resume  his  seat.  Then  turning  to 
the  last  speaker  he  said,  with  no  added  tone  of  ex- 
citement but  with  quiet  dignity  :  "  What  am  I  to  un- 
derstand General  Battlescar  as  insinuating  ?" 

"  Nothing  more  than  this,  General  Chester.  With 
the  highest  esteem  for  you  personally,  for  your  prob- 
ity and  sincerity,  I  consider  you  an  enthusiast  who  is 
carried  away  by  visions  of  vast  results,  but  who  will 
never  do  aught  but  theorize.  I  should  not  have 
dreamed  of  purchasing  the  stock  of  this  company  had 
it  not  been  for  *  the  Destroyer ' ;  that  was  in  my  line. 
Now  that  I  discover  that  this  war-engine  has  a  defect 
which  may  prove  fatal,  and  that  in  place  of  at  once 
demonstrating  your  ability  to  remedy  that  defect  you 
propose  to  toss  the  invention  to  one  side  to  make  way 
for  a  damned,  chimerical,  rain-coaxing  scheme,  I  re- 
tire. That  my  pocket  is  a  gainer  by  my  experiment 
I  owe  less  to  my  financial  ability,  or  to  your  invent- 
ive genius,  than  to  a  signal  failure  on  the  part  of  our 
mutual  friend  yonder  to  play  the  bluff  game."  And 
Brigadier-General  Battlescar  strode  from  the  field 
with  all  the  honors  of  war. 

This  exciting  event  decidedly  ruffled  the  placidity 
of  the  members  of  the  board.  It  also  set  them  busily 
thinking.  There  had  been  a  call  for  twenty-five  per 
centum  further  payment  on  the  stock,  and  an  intima- 


212  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

tion  that  a  final  call  of  ten  per  centum  would  soon 
be  made.  As  a  result  of  all  this,  some  of  the  stock 
was  surreptitiously  offered  through  brokers,  "as  a 
test,  you  know,  to  get  at  its  market- value. "  Strange 
to  state,  the  money-market  proved  to  be  very  "tight" 
just  then. 

But  Mr.  Chatterton's  skill  was  equal  to  at  least 
helping  himself  out  of  difficulty.  He  did  not  object 
to  carry  stock — which  might  be  sold  more  profitably 
later — that  had  cost  him  nothing  but  a  little  work, 
and  that  had  already  declared  for  him  large  social 
dividends.  But  it  was  quite  another  matter  to  hold 
stock  for  which  he  had  paid  General  Battlescar  in 
hard  cash,  so  he  set  about  to  unload  these  surplus 
shares.  Within  a  few  days  he  succeeded,  Mr.  Polliver 
Jones  becoming  the  possessor,  and  succeeding  Battle- 
scar  as  a  member  of  the  board.  The  thing  had  been 
cleverly  managed.  Mr.  Chatterton  had  imbued  Mrs. 
Jones  with  the  social  importance  of  a  place  on  the 
board  of  directors  of  this  fashionable  fad,  and  she 
had  given  Polliver  his  orders.  At  first  he  had  re- 
belled, but  had  ultimately  "  gone  to  the  wall "  before 
the  stronger  will. 

Misfortunes  rarely  come  singly  ;  two  more  of  the 
inventions  were  pronounced  worthless. 

Gloom  and  consternation  sat  on  every  face  save  the 
General's ;  he  maintained  his  usual  serenity,  and 
recommended  patience. 

However,  there  was  a  sudden  revulsion  of  feeling. 
It  was  whispered  among  the  stockholders  that  one 
patent  had  been  pronounced  valuable. 

Polliver  Jones  had  succeeded  General  Battlescar 
as  the  committee  on  tests,  and  it  was  said  that  he  and 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  213 

the  expert  employed  by  the  board  had  at  last  found 
an  undoubted  treasure.  The  expert  was  an  earnest, 
energetic  man,  engrossed  in  his  calling,  and  extremely 
jealous  of  "  outsiders  " — as  he  styled  all  not  directly 
interested — and  fearful  of  premature  disclosure.  The 
unfortunate  incident  accompanying  the  failure  of 
"the  Destroyer"  had  intensified  this  desire  for  se- 
crecy. Therefore,  Mr.  Polliver  Jones  promised  faith- 
fully to  reveal  absolutely  nothing  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  successful  invention  for  two  days ;  namely,  till 
the  date  of  the  regular  meeting  of  the  board,  which 
time  was  necessary  to  perfect  the  examination.  And 
he,  further  than  to  hint  at  the  fact  of  a  great  discov- 
ery, had  faithfully  kept  his  word,  notwithstanding  the 
importunities  of  the  other  members.  The  inventor 
himself  showed  and  felt  not  the  least  curiosity. 
"  Time  will  demonstrate,"  he  placidly  averred,  "  that 
they  are  all  destined  to  be  successful.  The  order  of 
precedent  is  of  little  importance." 

But  the  zealous  expert  and  his  coadjutor  had  neg- 
lected one  precaution.  They  forgot  that  but  a  thin 
partition  intervened  between  the  laboratory  and  the 
office  of  the  secretary  and  treasurer.  Without  the 
least  intention  of  eavesdropping,  Mr.  Chatterton  over- 
heard a  half-dozen  words  which  roused  him  to  instant 
activity. 

On  the  day  before  the  meeting  of  the  board  there 
was  a  transfer  on  the  books  of  the  company  of  two 
hundred  shares  of  its  stock  from  "William  Chatterton 
to  Solomon  Briggs — Mrs.  Briggs  was  engaged  in  a 
desperate  effort  to  purchase  a  foothold  in  society. 

The  momentous  morning  arrived.  At  eleven 
o'clock  all  the  seats  around  the  table  in  the  board- 


214  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

room  were  filled,  save  one  reserved  for  Polliver  Jones. 
Soon  the  door  leading  from  the  laboratory  opened, 
and  that  worthy  entered  and  walked  to  his  place. 
His  face  did  not  bear  that  evidence  of  exultation 
which  the  occasion  seemed  to  warrant.  When  called 
on  for  his  report,  he  rose  slowly,  and  addressed  the 
chair  with  considerable  nervousness  of  manner.  He 
began  by  explaining  that,  as  all  present  well  knew, 
he  was  not  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  board. 
And  he  must  say,  in  his  own  justification,  that  he 
ought  to  have  been  more  specifically  posted  as  to  detail 
before  being  intrusted  with  so  important  a  committee. 
But,  in  place  of  explicit  instruction,  he  had  been  left 
to  act  from  reasonable  inference  only.  In  looking 
over  the  several  untested  inventions,  he  and  the  ex- 
pert had  selected  a  simple  and  easily  tested  device. 
It  was  the  one  which  had  elicited  so  favorable  a  report. 
In  fact,  later  investigation  had  more  than  established 
the  importance  of  the  invention,  and  now  the  expert 
was  ready  to  stake  his  reputation  that  it  was  an  ex- 
ceedingly valuable  patent.  "  But,"  continued  the 
orator,  "I  have  this  very  morning  made  a  most  pain- 
ful discovery.  This  valuable  invention  is  a  churn ; 
but,  gentlemen,  the  patent  ain't  ours  ! " 

The  members  looked  at  one  another  in  dismay. 
If  further  explanation  had  been  necessary,  it  would 
have  been  conveyed  in  the  calm  words  of  their  pre- 
siding officer :  "  It  is  my  daughter's  invention,  and 
is,  of  course,  patented  in  her  name.  I  am  pleased  to 
learn  that  her  modest  effort  seems  likely  to  be  crowned 
with  success." 

Mr.  Chatterton  had  not  been  above  using  certain 
Wall-Street  tactics. 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  215 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THERE  are  two  silent  figures  reposing  in  separate 
rooms  in  a  Fifth  Avenue  house. 

One  is  very  quiet ;  so  quiet  that  "  Burlington 
and  Quincy "  might  go  off  ten  points,  or  "  Western 
Union "  show  unexampled  activity  without  a  spasm 
passing  over  that  still  face. 

The  other  figure  is  almost  as  motionless.  Through 
the  closed  blinds  a  ray  of  cold,  winter  sun  is  traveling 
across  the  wall. 

The  woman  on  the  sofa  is  watching  it.  Soon  it 
will  reach  the  corner  of  the  book-case — What  will 
God  do  to  a  woman  who  had  thought  she  was  living 
rightly,  and  yet  who  had  not  kept  her  husband  from — 
There !  now  the  sun -ray  has  lapped  the  book-case ; 
how  long  will  it  take  to  reach  the  glass  door  ?  Only 
thirty  years  old,  and  people  often  live  to  thrice  that 
age  ;  horrible  thought !  The  sun-ray  has  touched  the 
glass  ;  it  reflects  painfully  in  her  eyes,  and  she  raises 
her  hand  to  shield  them — her  wedding-ring !  Her 
mother  is  dead ;  she  is  glad  of  it,  for  she  would  have 
suffered  because  of  all  this.  That  poor  mother  had 
schemed  for  riches  and  social  power  for  her  child, 
binding  her  to —  Will  the  tramping  up  and  down 
stairs  never  cease  ? 

A  figure  glides  into  the  room.  It  is  a  woman  ; 
not  young  or  pretty,  but  an  ugly,  hard-faced  old 
woman  —  a  woman  dreaded  because  of  her  sharp, 
caustic  tongue  and  her  merciless  severity  on  humbug 
and  pretension — except  where  she  may  be  the  gainer 


216  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

by  discretion.  Not  a  Pharisee  with  hypocritical  phy- 
lacteries ;  not  a  priest  with  the  thunders  of  the  law 
and  with  anathema  maranathas  for  transgressors  ;  but 
a  sinner,  a  Samaritan.  A  cynical,  grasping,  unsancti- 
fied  Samaritan  ;  and  yet — "  A  certain  man  .  .  .  fell 
among  thieves.  .  .  .  And  by  chance  there  came  down 
a  certain  priest  that  way  :  and  when  he  saw  him,  he 
passed  by  on  the  other  side.  And  likewise  a  Levite. 
.  .  .  But  a  certain  Samaritan  .  .  .  when  he  saw  him 
had  compassion  on  him,  .  .  .  and  bound  up  his 
wounds,  pouring  in  oil  and  wine." 

Not  a  word  is  spoken,  but  Dora  Denvers  sheds  the 
first  tears  of  widowhood  upon  the  stiff  moire-antique 
front  of  Mrs.  Underdunk's  gown. 

By-and-by  there  is  a  whispered  consultation  at  the 
door.  Mrs.  Underdunk  rises  to  find  its  cause.  More 
whispering ;  then  she  returns  and  gently  explains. 
Mrs.  Denvers  must  go  down-stairs;  certain  formali- 
ties have  to  be  gone  through  with. 

Slowly  the  descent  is  made.  There  is  a  trying 
moment  when  the  fatal  spot  on  the  landing  is  passed. 
What  is  that  stain  !  Good  God  !  can  not  it  be  effaced? 

Below,  the  room  is  darkened.  The  poor  woman 
is  vaguely  conscious  of  many  indistinct  forms ;  she 
shrinks  closer  to  her  companion,  and  is  led  to  a  chair. 
A  man  with  a  deep,  solemn  voice  asks  her  questions. 
She  does  not  understand.  He  repeats  them  ;  she 
tries  to  collect  her  scattered  senses,  but  can  not.  The 
voice  kindly  suggests  that  she  should  take  a  little 
time  to  quiet  her  emotion  ;  the  others  can  in  the 
mean  while  be  examined. 

Who  is  that  standing  alone  near  the  door  ?  No 
need  to  ask,  for  his  name  is  called.  He  advances,  and 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  217 

in  well-known  tones  responds  "  I  do,"  to  the  form  of 
oath.  His  testimony  is  given  simply  and  directly. 
Not  a  word  or  a  tone  to  show  that  he  is  on  the  rack. 

Then  the  servants  are  questioned.  They  mean 
kindly  enough,  but  oh,  the  torture  of  their  plain 
speaking  !  She  does  not  understand  what  it  all  means, 
but  she  does  know  that  her  own  servants  are  telling 
of  her  and  of  the  dead  man  up-stairs.  Mrs.  Under- 
dunk  would  lead  her  from  the  room,  but  she  refuses 
with  a  gesture.  There  is  a  horrible  fascination  in 
listening. 

The  taking  of  testimony  continues.  Harsh,  direct 
questions  and  answers  plough  relentlessly  through  her 
heart  and  brain.  Careless  of  delicacy  or  refinement 
of  language,  the  hot  shares  tear  open  the  innermost 
secrets  of  her  life,  turning  up  dead  bones  of  past  and 
buried  forgotten  things  !  Why  do  they  so  often 
couple  her  name  with  his,  that  dark  figure  over  there 
by  the  door  ?  Why  does  Mr.  Dodruff — she  had  not 
before  noticed  his  presence — whisper  to  her,  now  that 
her  name  is  again  called,  to  answer  only  direct  ques- 
tions ?  In  five  minutes  it  is  over.  The  man  with 
the  deep,  serious  voice  is  kind.  She  finds  herself 
thanking  him  in  her  heart ;  she  scarcely  knows  for 
what.  Up-stairs  now  ?  —  must  she  pass  that  spot 
again  ? 

Soon  the  darkened  parlor  is  cleared  of  all  save  the 
solemn  men  who  have  been  assembled  to  inquire  how 
Clarence  Denvers  received  his  death-wound. 

They  are  not  long  in  reaching  a  conclusion — 
"  Suicide ;  cause,  mental  aberration  brought  on  by 
financial  difficulties." 

Then  the  case  is  passed  on  to  that  jury  which 


218  -A-    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

knows  no  law,  no  justice,  no  mercy,  no  conscience, 
no  responsibility — the  world. 

Its  verdict,  too,  is  soon  reached.  It  is  insinuated 
in  the  papers  ;  it  is  whispered  at  the  family  hearth  ; 
it  is  hinted  at  in  sermons ;  it  is  coarsely  bruited  on 
the  street ;  it  is  cynically  worded  at  the  clubs ;  it  is 
suggested  in  epigrams.  The  insinuation,  the  whisper, 
the  hint,  the  proclamation,  the  cynicism,  the  epigram, 
all  agree — the  dead  man  was  innocent ;  but  the  living 
man  and  the  woman  (above  all  the  woman  !)  are 
guilty. 

The  day  following  was  Sunday.  In  a  fashionable 
church  a  very  earnest,  eloquent  man  preached  to  a 
large  instalment  of  the  world's  jury.  He  incidentally 
took  for  his  text  "  Charity  thinketh  no  evil,"  and  his 
hearers  were  edified,  and  were  heard  to  thank  Heaven 
that  want  of  charity  was  not  their  sin  !  Another 
good  man  in  another  church  happened  to  choose  for 
his  theme  the  casting  of  stones  by  those  who  were 
themselves  in  condemnation.  After  church,  two  ladies 
de  la  haute  voUe  discussed  the  sermon.  They  agreed 
that  it  was  admirable ;  arid  that  it  was  a  pity  that 
poor  Mrs.  Denvers,  who  had  always  posed  as  a  saint, 
you  know,  could  not  have  heard  some  such  discourse 
years  ago  ;  it  might  have  made  her  less  hypocritical. 
Then  they  separated,  each  in  her  own  way,  to  tell 
her  friends  :  "Just  to  think  !  Mrs.  Blank  had  the 
audacity  to  criticise  Mrs.  Denvers's  hypocrisy  !  Did 
you  ever  !  And  after  that  address,  too,  about  those 
who  live  in  glass  houses  throwing  stones  ! " 

At  the  clubs  the  sermons  were  not  discussed — for 
an  excellent  reason — but  the  tragedy  was,  in  its  every 
phase.  There  were  some  capital  jokes  made  thereon ; 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  219 

not  directly  personal — men  are  liable  to  be  called  in 
question  for  such  reference — but  sufficiently  pointed 
to  be  highly  entertaining.  Late  in  the  afternoon 
Perry  appeared  at  the  Lethe.  His  face  was  paler 
than  usual,  but  he  was  quite  composed.  His  friends 
and  acquaintances  were,  man-like,  very  empresse ; 
not  as  intending  to  emphasize  their  disapproval  of, 
and  disbelief  in,  the  scandalous  gossip,  but  rather  as 
intimating  that  they  were  without  narrow  prejudice, 
and  could  make  allowances.  Of  course,  to  him  there 
was  no  hint  of  the  calumnious  tattle  that  had  only 
ceased  on  his  arrival ;  he  read  it,  nevertheless,  in  the 
looks,  the  pose,  the  self-conscious  manner  of  the  men, 
and  it  made  him  savage,  and  sick  at  heart.  He  soon 
left  the  club,  and  while  returning  to  his  lonely  apart- 
ment wondered,  with  a  deep  sigh  of  pity  for  poor 
Dora  Denvers,  if  there  was  never  to  be  deliverance 
"from  the  snare  of  the  fowler,  and  from  the  noisome 
pestilence  "  !  And  he  had  fancied  that  Tie  could  pro- 
tect her  against  this  merciless  persecution! 

The  grim  old  Samaritan  remained  with  Mrs.  Den- 
vers till  after  the  funeral.  She  was  quiet,  unobtrusive, 
and,  in  her  own  way,  kind ;  a  much  more  soothing 
companion  than  an  emotional  woman  would  have 
been.  On  that  Sunday  evening  her  devotion  touched 
the  height  of  heroism ;  she  unhesitatingly  elected  to 
forego  a  dinner  at  a  very  swell  house.  The  fact  that 
the  house  was  swell  moved  her  not  a  jot ;  but  the  fact 
that  its  chefs  bisque  a  la  reine  was  perfection,  moved 
her  to  rather  rancorous  regret  at  the  inopportuneness 
of  Mr.  Denvers's  demise. 

The  news  of  the  tragedy  was  told  Mrs.  Chester  by 
Mr.  Chatterton.  He  found  her  alone  on  the  morning 


220  -A-    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

after  Mrs.  Polliver  Jones's  ball.  Such  a  bit  of  news, 
and  such  an  opportunity  are  rare  combinations,  and 
Mr.  Chatterton  was  duly  thankful  to  his  gods  for 
their  indulgence.  Of  course,  Mrs.  Chester  was  horri- 
fied. Still  she  quickly  recovered,  and  at  once  applied 
the  touchstone  with  which  she  tested  everything  in 
heaven,  in  earth,  and  in  the  waters  under  the  earth — 
the  relation  of  the  event  to  herself  and  her  grandeur. 
In  this  incident  she  saw  her  Christian  course  unmis- 
takably before  her.  She  told  Cousin  William  she  had 
never  realized  as  keenly  as  at  that  moment  that  social 
eminence  imposes  duties  as  well  as  accords  privileges. 
If  her  position  were  less  conspicuous  she  could  follow 
the  dictates  of  inclination,  and  at  least  refrain  from 
overt  rebuke ;  as  matters  stood,  she  had  but  one  course 
open  to  her.  Those  who  transgressed,  or  who  at  least 
did  not  avoid  the  appearance  of  evil,  must  suffer,  and 
it  was  the  penalty  of  greatness  to  have  to  pronounce 
the  sentence.  She  had  all  along  been  suspicious  of 
Mrs.  Denvers.  Only  last  night  Mrs.  Polliver  Jones — 
Mrs.  Polliver  Jones  was  of  no  family,  poor  thing,  but 
was  entirely  inoffensive — had  told  her  that  a  certain 
Mrs.  Dare,  who  is,  it  seems,  a  most  objectionable  per- 
son, owed  her  entree  into  society  to  Mrs.  Denvers — 
and,  by  the  way,  to  Mr.  Perry  !  Evidently  they  were 
all  of  a  class.  Far  be  it  from  her  to  say  they  had  been 
guilty  of  moral  misconduct.  She  did  not  judge  them; 
she  only  knew  that  they  had  infringed  certain  social 
rules,  and  that  excommunication  must  follow.  There 
was  no  option ;  the  individual  must  ignore  the  prompt- 
ings of  mercy  for  the  general  good.  As  to  Felix 
Perry — 

At  that  moment  Chatterton  entered  the  room.     It 


A    VIRGINIA    INHERITANCE.  £21 

may  have  been  the  strain  through  which  she  had  passed 
the  night  before,  or  it  may  have  been  the  mention  of 
that  name,  but,  one  or  the  other,  the  result  was  that 
she  was  looking  pale  and  ill. 

"  Cousin  Chat,"  began  Mr.  Chatterton,  "  have 
you  heard  of  the  dreadful  tragedy  at  the  Den  verses' 
this"— 

But  Mrs.  Chester  had  too  much  regard  to  the 
proprieties  to  allow  him  to  proceed.  "  No,  Cousin 
William,  leave  it  to  me.  And  now,  as  I  see  that  my 
daughter  is  excited  and  ill,  forgive  me  if  I  ask  you  to 
leave  us.  The  General  is  in  the  dining-room,  I  think. 
Do  go  and  tell  him  the  shocking  news." 

The  imparting  of  the  grewsome  tale  being  the  ex- 
cellent and  soul-engrossing  occupation,  and  the  indi- 
viduality of  the  hearer  being  a  matter  of  small  moment, 
Mr.  Chatterton  cheerfully  complied. 

As  soon  as  the  door  closed  upon  him,  Chatterton 
turned  toward  her  mother  :  "  Tell  me  at  once,  please. 
Do  not  dole  it  out,  I  beseech  you  ! " 

"  Calm  yourself,  my  child.  "We  are  in  no  way  im- 
plicated in  this  dreadful  affair,  and  there  is,  therefore, 
no  reason  for  exaggerated  emotion  on  your  part." 
Chatterton  passed  her  hand  wearily  over  her  brow, 
and  waited.  She  well  knew  that  her  mother  could 
not  be  hurried  ;  that  such  an  attempt  would  defeat 
its  own  ends.  Mrs.  Chester  continued  :  "  One  can 
not  be  too  careful  in  selecting  one's  associates.  I  my- 
self have  been  somewhat  to  blame,  for  I  have  never 
felt  thoroughly  satisfied  about  that  Mrs.  Denvers." 

"Is  she  dead?" 

"  Dead,  Chatterton  !  Of  course  not.  It  might 
have  been  better  for  her  if  she  had  died.  No,  it  is 


222  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

her  poor  husband.  He  committed  suicide  in  his  own 
house  at  three  o'clock  this  morning." 

"  Horrible  !  Poor  Mrs.  Denvers,  what  a  dreadful 
shock.  Was  she  with  him  ?" 

"  Unfortunately  yes,  my  child.  And,  more  un- 
fortunately still,  she  was  not  alone  ! " 

"  Was  she  not  ?  I  am  glad  of  that,  poor  thing  ! 
Who  was  with  her  ?  " 

"  Let  me  tell  you  the  story  in  my  own  way. 
Shortly  after  three  o'clock  this  morning  the  Denverses' 
servants  heard  several  pistol-shots.  They  rushed  to 
the  second-story  hall,  and  there  found  Mr.  Denvers 
dead,  a  revolver  grasped  in  his  hand.  Mrs.  Denvers 
had  fainted.  A  man  was  standing  over  her.  That 
man  was — prepare  yourself  for  a  shock,  for  you  know 
him — was  Felix  Perry." 

Chatterton  uttered  a  faint  cry,  then  gazed  fixedly 
at  her  mother's  troubled  face,  her  own  very  white. 
The  old  lady  continued  :  "  Of  course,  we  as  yet  have 
only  the  bare  facts.  Mr.  Perry,  it  seems,  told  the 
butler  that  on  his  return  from  the  ball  he  had  been 
summoned  by  a  note  from  Mrs.  Denvers.  On  his 
arrival  she  hurriedly  informed  him  that  her  husband 
was  completely  crazed  by  money  losses,  and  that  she 
had  reason  to  fear  he  intended  to  do  her  an  injury. 
They  mounted  the  stairs  to  summon  a  messenger,  in- 
tending to  send  for  a  physician,  when,  on  reaching 
the  second  landing,  they  came  face  to  face  with  Den- 
vers, who  was  quite  mad.  He  fired  three  shots  at 
Perry,  none  of  which  took  effect,  and  then  blew  out 
his  own  brains.  However,  you  must  remember  this 
is  Perry's  version.  To  me  it  is  evident  the  whole 
story  is  concocted  to  shield  himself." 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  223 

"  Why  do  you  suppose  it  not  true,  mamma  ?  " 

"  Why,  Chatterton  ?  Alas,  my  child,  age  but  too 
well  knows  the  hypocrisy  of  the  world  !  It  is  credit- 
able to  your  heart,  as  well  as  to  my  training,  that  you 
are  charitable.  Did  not  I  have  a  manifest  duty  to 
perform,  I  certainly  should  not  disturb  such  lovely 
confidence.  Life  is  a  sad  iconoclast,  as  you  will  all 
too  soon  learn.  But  in  this  case  I  must  undeceive 
you.  There  will  be  but  one  verdict  in  our  set.  A 
pure,  lofty  character,  a  character  such  as  Mrs.  Denvers 
poses  for,  does  not  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning 
summon  to  her  aid  a  man  who  has,  by  his  attentions, 
already  compromised  her.  No,  my  child.  A  woman, 
actuated  by  only  the  natural  emotion  of  fear  for  her 
distracted  husband,  would  have  summoned  the  serv- 
ants, would  have  sent  for  her  physician,  or  else  for 
some  relative  or  intimate  woman  friend.  It  distresses 
me  to  have  to  tell  you  all  this —  " 

"  For  pity's  sake,  mamma,  remember  that  I  am 
not  a  baby  or  a  school-girl.  Do  treat  me  as  a  rational 
human  being  who  is  past  the  age  when  an  account 
touching  upon  the  emotions  and  the  passions  which 
sway  mankind  must  be  highly  diluted  before  being 
administered  ?  " 

Mrs.  Chester  drew  herself  up.  "  I  am  not  accus- 
tomed to  being  lectured  by  my  own  daughter  !  How- 
ever, I  will  make  allowance  for  your  nervous  state. 
But  let  us  pass  on  to  other  matters.  The  moral  aspect 
of  this  unfortunate  case  does  not,  after  all,  directly 
concern  us.  What  does  concern  us  is  our  future  re- 
lation to  these  people.  They  have  so  placed  them- 
selves as  to  challenge  criticism,  and  the  fault  is  only 
theirs  if  the  challenge  is  accepted.  As  for  Mrs.  Den- 


224:  -4    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

vers,  there  is  no  need  of  immediate  decision.  We 
will  not  be  thrown  with  her,  of  course,  for  some  time 
to  come.  When  the  time  comes,  I  need  scarcely  tell 
you,  I  shall  do  only  what  a  high  sense  of  the  obliga- 
tion of  my  position  imposes.  I  certainly  shall  allow 
neither  personal  dislike  nor  indiscriminate  charity  to 
swerve  me  from  the  straight  path  of  duty.  But  as 
to  this  Mr.  Perry  there  is  no  question  as  to  my  course. 
I  have  never  felt  confidence  in  him  ;  no,  not  from  the 
moment  when  he  pretended  not  to  know  that  he  had 
stumbled  upon  Chatterton  Hall,  and  when  he  com- 
pelled your  father  to  invite  him  to  be  our  guest — a 
mere  lawyer's  trick  ! " 

Chatterton  turned  away  her  face  in  very  shame 
that  her  mother  should  prefer  to  cast  doubt  indis- 
criminately upon  the  motives  and  veracity  of  others, 
rather  than  have  her  own  perspicacity  impugned,  if 
only  by  so  much  as  implication. 

Mrs.  Chester  continued  :  "My  duty  is  clear.  This 
man  must  henceforth  be  shown  that  he  has  placed 
himself  outside  the  pale  of  our  acquaintance. " 

Chatterton  rose  and  walked  to  the  window.  She 
wished  to  calm  herself  before  answering,  for  she  had 
the  typical  Southern  deference  for  an  elder,  and  espe- 
cially for  a  parent.  By.-and-by  she  returned  to  the 
sofa  and  stood  over  her  mother,  as  she  said,  compos- 
edly enough :  tf  I  trust  that  I  may  be  able  to  per- 
suade you  to  modify  your  decision,  for  I  should  not 
like  to  have  to  go  counter  to  your  wishes." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  you  will  continue  to  know 
this  man  ?  " 

' '  Yes,  mamma,  I  do." 

"  Notwithstanding  that  your  own  mother  forbids 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  225 

it ;  notwithstanding  that  I  tell  you  the  creature  has 
been  all  along  notoriously  attentive  to  this  woman  ; 
notwithstanding  that  he  is  found  there  alone  with  her 
at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  is  shot  at  by  the 
indignant  husband  ?  " 

"You  yourself  said  the  husband  was  crazed  by 
money  troubles." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  I  did  not.  I  said  such  was 
the  story  concocted  by  this  Perry." 

"After  all,"  said  Chatterton,  turning  away  and 
approaching  the  fire,  "we  need  not  anticipate  events. 
No  doubt  but  there  will  be  a  coroner's  inquest.  We 
had  better  await  the  verdict  before  we  criticise." 

"And  do  you  suppose  that  the  verdict  will  in 
the  least  alter  my  opinion — a  lot  of  vulgar  men  as- 
sembled to  tell  who  fired  the  fatal  shot,  and  to  guess 
at  the  motive  ?  No  one  doubts  that  the  man  commit- 
ted suicide.  I,  knowing  the  inner  life  of  these  people, 
and  knowing  the  depravity  of  the  human  heart,  am 
a  better  jury  than  the  one  the  coroner  will  summon." 

"At  least  they  will  not  reach  their  verdict  without 
investigation." 

It  was  the  nearest  approach  to  a  taunt  she  had 
ever  been  guilty  of  toward  her  mother.  She  was  in- 
dignant at  the  injustice.  This  quixotic  young  re- 
former was  at  all  times  ready  to  tilt  with  ignoble  sus- 
picion or  distrust.  It  was  this  trait  which  had  the 
evening  before  drawn  down  her  scorn  upon  Perry's 
head.  In  the  midst  of  his  perplexity  and  misery, 
Felix  little  guessed  that  he  was  already  somewhat  re- 
habilitated in  Chatterton's  estimation ;  not  so  much 
because  of  intrinsic  worth  in  himself,  as  through  the 
action  of  her  own  generosity.  Such  rehabilitation  is 
15 


226  -4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

often  outside   the  acts  and  even   the  knowledge  of 
the  beneficiary. 

Tears  constitute  the  last  argument  of  the  intel- 
lectually unfortified  ;  it  is  a  powerful  argument,  too, 
for  it  challenges  only  passive  resentment,  and  not  what 
the  inimitable  Gilbert  calls  "the  retaliating  whack." 

Chatterton  soothed  her  mother,  implored  that  the 
matter  be  finally  dropped,  begged  her  pardon  for  her 
undutiful  words — in  fact,  did  all  required  of  her,  save 
to  agree  to  that  point  about  Perry,  which  point  the 
old  lady  was  wise  enough  to  leave  out  of  the  peace 
protocol. 

But  it  is  proverbially  difficult  to  draw  up  a  treaty 
which  will  cover  all  contingencies,  and  Mrs.  Chester 
continually  broke  theirs,  at  least  in  the  spirit.  For 
many  days  the  heinousness  of  the  transgressors  was 
the  text  of  her  esoteric  sermons.  The  ingenuity 
which  she  displayed  in  talking  of  Dora  Denvers  and 
Perry  without  actually  naming  them,  would,  if  pat- 
ented, have  formed  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  Brad- 
dox  Patents  Company,  to  be  offered  to  the  public  as  a 
safe  and  portable  article  in  the  line  of  light  defama- 
tion. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

FORTUNATELY  for  Felix  Perry,  the  hearing  of  a 
yery  intricate  case  was  set  for  the  week  following  the 
tragedy.  He  threw  himself  into  this  case  with  such 
dogged  persistence  that  not  only  did  he  win  it,  but  he 
recovered  somewhat  his  mental  equanimity. 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  227 

The  proverbial  nine  days  were  over,  and  people 
were  talking  less  of  the  Denvers  scandal.  Of  course, 
Perry  was  still  an  object  of  curiosity,  censure,  or  ma- 
lignity, as  the  case  might  be,  and  still  had  the  disa- 
greeable sensation  of  carrying  notoriety,  albatross- 
wise,  about  with  him.  Still,  there  was  a  slight 
improvement.  His  friends  rallied  around  him  ;  that 
is,  three  or  four  generous,  liberal-minded  women  es- 
poused his  cause  in  society,  and  as  many  husbands  had 
their  orders  to  do  the  same  at  the  clubs. 

Felix  heard  nothing  directly  from  his  Virginians, 
and  heard  little  about  them,  and  yet  he  was  quite 
convinced  that  they,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
Chatterton,  were  against  him.  He  knew  Mrs.  Ches- 
ter well  enough  to  gauge  her  attitude  in  regard  to  the 
whole  affair,  and  was  sure  that  the  easy-going  General 
would  not  challenge  it.  It  was  useless,  he  told  him- 
self, for  him  to  fret  about  Chatterton's  opinion,  for  it 
had  not  needed  the  tragedy  to  turn  her  against  him  ; 
still,  he  did  worry. 

He  had  gone  nowhere,  socially.  His  work  had 
filled  most  of  his  time,  evenings  as  well  as  days,  and, 
besides,  he  felt  that  good  taste  demanded  he  should  re- 
main in  retirement  for  a  little  time.  But  this  rule 
did  not  apply  to  his  club,  or  to  Mrs.  Denvers's 
house. 

The  question  as  to  what  should  be  his  overt  atti- 
tude toward  Mrs.  Denvers  during  this  trying  period 
troubled  him  greatly,  till  he  had  an  inspiration — he 
would  refer  the  whole  question  to  Mrs.  Underdunk. 
This  lady  speedily  decided  it ;  he  was  to  call,  with 
her,  at  once.  On  the  occasion  of  this  visit  to  the  old 
Samaritan  there  had  been  some  very  plain  speaking. 


228  4    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

But  as  the  animus  was  distinctly  friendly  to  him  as 
well  as  to  Mrs.  Denvers,  what  was  said  left  no  sting. 
It  is  surprising  how  much  you  can  without  offense 
say  to  a  person  in  regard  to  his  own  private  affairs 
if  there  lurk  absolutely  no  self-conscious  or  critical 
spirit  behind  the  words.  But  let  either  of  these 
traits  be  present,  and  you  can  no  more  hide  it  than 
you  can  cover  an  elephant  with  a  pocket-handker- 
chief. 

In  conclusion,  Perry  said  :  "  You  are  more  than 
kind,  Mrs.  Uuderdunk.  Mrs.  Denvers  is  indeed  for- 
tunate in  having  such  a  friend  in  this  ill-mannered 
and  censorious  world." 

"  Oh,  don't  abuse  the  world,  my  dear  Perry.  It 
is  not  so  bad  a  world  after  all.  The  trouble  is  that 
supersensitive  persons  charge  it  with  their  own  nerv- 
ousness and  then  complain  when  it  goes  off  with  a 
bang." 

"  Am  I  supersensitive  ?  " 

"  Less  than  some,  may  be.  Still,  you,  too,  over- 
estimate the  importance  of  some  forms  of  criticism. 
If  you  only  heartily  despised  the  critics  you  would 
suffer  less  from  the  mosquito-bites. " 

"Ah,  my  dear  Mrs.  Underdunk,  it  is  easy  to 
philosophize  about  the  bites  from  beneath  a  mos- 
quito-bar ! " 

And  then  they  had  gone  to  Mrs.  Denvers. 

Of  course  it  was  a  painful  and  awkward  ordeal  for 
the  two  most  implicated.  There  was  neither  direct 
reference  to  the  tragedy  nor  total  avoidance  of  the 
subject.  The  poor  woman  thanked  him  in  a  few, 
touching,  tearful  words  for  his  generosity  and  kind- 
ness to  her  in  the  matter  of  the  loan  to  poor  Denvers, 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  229 

and  added  that  it  would  be  the  work  of  her  life  to 
repay  it.  With  true  chivalry,  Perry  merely  intimat- 
ed that  he  trusted  she  would  allow  him  to  be  the  last 
creditor  paid,  and  gently  turned  the  subject. 

"When  Mrs.  Underdunk  and  Perry,  on  their  return, 
reached  the  apartment-house,  he  said  :  "  Can  nothing 
be  done  to  keep  from  poor  Mrs.  Denvers  the  knowl- 
edge that  the  scandal-mongers  are  busy  with  her  name  ? 
Does  she  as  yet  suspect  nothing  ?  " 

"  Absolutely  nothing.  She  must,  of  course,  event- 
ually read  some  criticism  in  the  tone  and  the  manner 
of  certain  Pharisaic  tattlers.  But  she  shall  be  saved 
from  persecution  as  far  as  one  old  woman  can  save 
her ! " 

Then  they  parted.  On  turning  from  the  door, 
Perry  found  himself  face  to  face  with  Mrs.  Chester 
and  her  daughter.  In  response  to  his  salutation, 
Mrs.  Chester  gave  him  the  coldest,  most  infinitesimal 
of  bows,  and  passed  into  the  house.  Chatterton  se- 
dately inclined  her  head,  and  was  about  to  follow  her 
mother  when  her  intention  changed.  Turning  quick- 
ly, she  said,  in  a  low,  trembling,  but  dignified  tone  : 
"I  feel  so  sorry  for  the  trouble  you  have  been 
in!" 

Before  he  could  answer,  she  was  gone. 

Felix  walked  out  to  Central  Park  and  back.  He 
returned  a  sadder  and  a  wiser  man — sadder,  because 
he  now  saw  what  a  pearl  he  had  thrown  away  ;  wiser, 
because  he  had  at  last  unlearned  the  sophistical  lesson 
taught  him  by  his  unfortunate  experience  in  early 
manhood.  In  the  light  of  this  girl's  generosity,  how 
unworthy  his  own  distrust  appeared  !  He  tortured 
himself  with  such  reflections,  nor  found  consolation. 


230  -A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

— now  that  his  infatuated  misconception  had  barred 
the  way  to  happiness — in  the  precept 

"  That  men  may  rise  on  stepping-stones 
Of  their  dead  selves  to  higher  things." 

Mrs.  Dare  lived  in  the  smallest  of  small  apart- 
ments on  the  highest  floor  of  a  very  high  house. 
From  her  front  windows  one  had  a  fine  view  of  the 
Jersey  shore,  of  the  Hudson,  and  of  thousands  of  in- 
tervening chimneys.  Inside,  all  was  warmth  and 
color — a  very  refined  taste  would  have  said  too  much 
color.  But  the  widow  was  of  the  florid  type,  and 
could  stand  high  tints.  The  sitting-room  was  tiny, 
and  so  decked  with  rugs  and  portieres  as  to  resem- 
ble a  Turkish  smoking-room.  This  resemblance  was 
heightened  by  sundry  hookahs  and  chibouques  strewed 
about,  and  by  a  faint  odor  of  dead  and  gone  cigar- 
ettes. In  fact,  the  whole  effect  was  decidedly  Eastern. 

At  the  very  hour  when  Perry  was  taking  his  salu- 
tary walk  to  the  park,  Mrs.  Dare  and  Atherton  Leigh 
were  seated  together  on  a  divan  in  this  room.  His 
pose  was  careless  to  the  brink  of  familiarity — his 
hands  in  his  pockets,  and  his  legs  stretched  out  be- 
fore him,  in  his  mouth  a  cigarette. 

There  was  an  atmosphere  about  Mrs.  Dare  essen- 
tially sensuous — a  subtle  suggestiveness,  which  while 
calculated  to  leave  certain  natures  unmoved  was  irre- 
sistibly alluring  to  others.  To  Atherton  Leigh  she 
was  dangerously  attractive,  especially  as  she  evidently 
was  intent  upon  enthralling  him.  After  an  acquaint- 
ance of  only  two  weeks,  Atherton  was  a  daily  visitor 
to  the  little  parlor,  and  hardly  an  evening  passed  that 
these  two  were  not  at  some  theatre  or  concert  together. 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  231 

The  intervening  stages  between  a  first  aquaintance 
and  a  very  decided  intimacy  had  been  rapidly  passed, 
and  while  yet  his  protestations  of  love  had  been  rather 
implied  than  unmistakably  stated,  it  was  evident  that 
more  was  impending.  Leigh  was  fully  capable  of  a 
persistent  and  unrestricted  passion  which  yet  need 
not  be  founded  on  anything  more  substantial  than 
utter  abandon  to  the  promptings  of  his  reckless  na- 
ture. He  had  loved  and  did  love  Chatterton  with  as 
much  sincerity  and  devotion  as  his  volatile  heart  was 
capable  of,  but  he  no  more  realized  that  this  need  in- 
terfere with  the  indulgence  of  his  inclinations  in  a 
less  exalted  direction  than  that  it  should  keep  him 
from  wild,  bacchanalian  orgies. 

"  And  so  your  life,  my  superb  Ariadne,  has  been 
an  unhappy  one  ?  "  * 

"  As  I  have  told  you.  What  was  there  in  my  sur- 
roundings to  bring  me  anything  but  unhappiness  ? 
Married  against  my  will  to  a  man  who  killed  himself 
with  dissipation  !  Ah,  we  poor  women  are  so  dread- 
fully restricted  !  We  can  not  choose  our  material, 
but  must  work  only  that  which  comes  to  our 
hand.  You  men  have  so  mtfch  more  extended  a 
range." 

"And  a  nice  mess  we  make  of  it !  Look  at  me 
for  instance  ;  am  not  I  a  noble  result  of  unrestricted 
liberty  ! " 

"Do  not  abuse  yourself,  dear  boy.  Self-control 
does  not  always  prove  either  genius  or  generosity ; 
rather  the  reverse." 

"  I  leave  my  case  with  you,  ma  chere.  You  will 
end  by  arguing  me  a  saint ;  a  pattern  to  imi- 
tate I" 


232  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

"  No,  Atherton,  you  are  not  a  saint.  If  you  were 
I  should  care  less  for  you." 

"  You  do  care  for  me,  then  ?  "  he  exclaimed,  ex- 
citedly, taking  her  hand  in  his. 

"  Too  much  to  allow  you  to  waste  your  sentiments 
on  one  who  can  give  no  satisfactory  answer  to  merely 
impulsive  emotion." 

"  Is  that  a  reproach  ?  " 

"  No,  you  know  it  is  not.  It  is  an  answer  to  the 
declaration  you  made  to  me  last  night,  here  in  this 
room,  when  I  sent  you  away  rather  than  allow  you  to 
go  so  far  as  to  imagine  yourself  pledged.  A  woman 
less  versed  in  the  ways  of  the  world  might  have  been 
deceived,  but  not  I.  A  love  that  is  anything  less 
than  an  irresistible  impulse  of  the  heart  will  find  no 
sympathy  in  me." 

"And  do  you  for  a  moment  suppose  that  I  am 
not  sincere  in  my  devotion,  in  my — " 

"  How  about  Chatterton  Chester,  Atherton  ?  " 

He  winced,  and  dropped  her  hand :  "  What  do 
you  mean  ?  " 

"  That  you  have  loved  her.  Oh,  don't  deny  it  I 
I  think  none  the  worse  of  you  for  that.  Every  man 
loves  more  than  once.  Were  I  in  love  with  you  I 
could  wish  for  no  more  womanly,  no  more  sweet  a 
predecessor  ! " 

In  certain  moods  he  was  as  tow,  and  she  fire  ;  in 
others,  he  was  as  clay  in  her  hands.  By  a  word  or 
glance  she  swayed  him  as  she  would  ;  his  moods  were 
completely  at  her  control.  To  oppose  was  to  chal- 
lenge him,  and  she  seemed  to  thwart  while  yet  really 
tempting  him  on.  He  had  a  violent — theoretic — pas- 
sion for  generosity,  and  she  praised  Chatterton.  The 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  233 

end  was  not  far,  was  inevitable  unless  some  other 
catastrophe  should  intervene. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

PERKY  sought  for  an  excuse  to  call  on  Chatterton. 
To  his  unusual  sensitiveness  it  seemed  that  he  could 
not  go  unarmed  with  a  pretext.  Chance  favored  him. 
In  a  few  days  a  communication  reached  Dodruff, 
Pringle,  and  Perry,  conveying  a  munificent  offer  for 
the  patented  churn,  and  requesting  them  to  lay  it  be- 
fore the  patentee.  Perry  eagerly  took  advantage  of 
this  unexpected  diversion,  and  hurried  to  Madison 
Avenue. 

He  was  fortunate,  Chatterton  was  at  home  and 
alone.  Considering  their  relative  positions,  the  meet- 
ing was  undemonstrative.  Perry  had  nerved  him- 
self to  the  ordeal,  and  Chatterton — well,  Chatterton 
commanded  the  situation.  There  is  a  stock-jobbing 
phrase  which  has  always  seemed  to  me  to  have  a  far- 
reaching  application  outside  the  technical  sense  in 
which  it  is  used  :  "  You  can  do  anything  on  a  rising 
market."  Every  woman  knows  this  truth  in  her  re- 
lation to  the  matrimonial  market,  and  most  of  them 
abuse  it.  Chatterton  could  not  resist  the  temptation 
to  prove  her  power.  Besides,  she  had  not  forgiven 
this  man  to  the  extent  of  forgetting. 

Of  course,  Perry  advanced  his  pretext  almost  im- 
mediately. Chatterton  was  delighted  ;  could  scarcely 
retain  her  exultation.  She  had  heard  of  the  favor- 


234  4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

able  report  made  by  the  expert,  but  here  was  more 
practical  evidence  still.  An  offer,  and  of  many  thou- 
sands of  dollars,  too  !  Of  course  her  father  must  be 
consulted,  but  what  did  Mr.  Perry  advise  ? 

He  hesitated,  then  said  that  if  the  patent  were 
his  he  would  accept  the  offer ;  adding  that  patents 
were  more  or  less  uncertain,  but  that  money  had  in- 
trinsic value.  There  must  have  been  meaning  in  his 
tone,  as  Chatterton  at  once  asked  if  he  feared  for  the 
future  of  the  "Braddox  Patents  Company."  He  an- 
swered that  he  did  ;  at  the  same  time  adding  that  as 
he  was  not  a  stockholder  his  opinion  was  not  based 
on  direct  knowledge,  but  merely  on  inference.  He 
ended  with  :  "Pray  excuse  what  may  after  all  be  but 
needless  alarm.  My  interest  in  you  may  have  made 
me  timid.  I  may  have  been  wrong  in  interfering ; 
especially  under  the  circumstances." 

"And  what  are  the  circumstances,  Mr.  Perry  ?" 

This  was  both  unexpected  and  disconcerting.  It 
is  generally  easier  to  infer  than  to  specify.  Still,  he 
must  answer.  "  The  circumstances  under  which  we 
parted  at  the  ball.  I  had  no  intention  of  referring 
to  this  now,  fearing  that  you  might  think  me  over- 
persistent.  However,  it  is  better  that  there  should  be 
a  last  act  to  the  drama  which  has  proved  a  tragedy 
to  me.  It  is  due  to  both  that  I  should  offer  you 
my  unqualified  apology  for  my  unworthy  misconcep- 
tion." 

A  generous  character  goes  a  long  way  to  greet  a 
returning  prodigal.  Chatterton  rushed  forward  on 
the  wings  of  the  spirit,  but  remained  outwardly  calm. 

"You  are  forgiven." 

For  a  moment  a  wild  hope  leaped  up  in  his  soul. 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  235 

It  must  have  spoken  in  his  eyes,  for  she  hastened  to 
add,  "But  much  of  my  confidence  is  gone.'*' 

He  could  not  blame  her.  Still,  it  was  a  cruel 
blow. 

"There  is  no  excuse  to  be  made  for  me,  I  know. 
Possibly  palliation  might  be  found  by  one  anxious 
to  seek  it." 

"  Possibly." 

His  heart  must  have  held,  till  this  moment,  a  faint 
hope,  for  he  now  felt  something  die  within  him. 
Still,  he  would  do  himself  the  justice  of  explaining. 
"  Only  the  seared  know  the  full  significance  of  the 
proverb  that  ( the  burned  child  dreads  the  fire.' " 

But  she  shook  her  head.  "  If  experience  teaches 
mistrust,  I  can  not  accord  it  the  exalted  rank  you 
claimed  for  it  down  in  Virginia." 

"But,  Miss  Chester,  do  you  make  no  allowance 
for  circumstances  ?  Have  you  forgotten  Atherton 
Leigh's  direct  assertion  to  me  ?  He  must  answer  to 
me  for  that  lie  ! " 

A  glad  flush  overspread  her  face.  "  Have  not  you 
yet  spoken  to  him  about  it  ?  " 

He  looked  up  at  her  reproachfully. 

She  continued  :  "  What,  then,  changed  your  opin- 
ion ?  " 

He  arose  and  paced  the  room  excitedly.  Pres- 
ently he  stopped  before  her. 

"  You  have.  The  truth  dawned  upon  me  when 
you  turned  your  indignant  eyes  on  me  at  the  ball ;  it 
blazed  upon  me  when  you  confounded  my  ignoble  sus- 
picion by  your  generous  confidence,  the  other  day,  in 
the  street,  when  you  would  not  pass  me  without  a 
word  of  consolation.  Ah,  Miss  Chester,  believe  one 


236  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

who  shares  with  misery  the  fatal  knowledge,  there 
is  no  unhappiness  to  equal  his  who  has  willfully 
thrown  his  one  chance  of  happiness  away  !  " 

She  turned  away  her  face — was  it  to  hide  emotion  ? 
"I  am  glad  you  needed  no  other  refutation,"  she 
said.  "It  would  have  wounded  my  pride." 

"And  yet  you  inferred  that  you  thought  I  had 
spoken  to  Atherton." 

Then  she  turned  a  blushing  face  upon  him,  a  little 
nervous  smile  playing  about  her  mouth.  "  Have  you 
never  known  a  woman  to  ask  a  question  merely  to 
have  a  denial  ?" 

He  turned  away ;  otherwise,  he  could  not  have 
controlled  the  impulse  to  plead  for  reinstatement. 

She  continued  :  "  I  am  glad  you  have  told  me  this. 
Not  only  does  it  place  you  in  a  better  light  before  me, 
but  it  gives  me  an  opportunity  to  tell  you  how  nobly, 
how  heroically  you  have  acted  in  the  terrible  matter 
of  Mr.  Denvers's  suicide.  To  be  perfectly  frank  with 
you,  this  is  what  made  me  consent  to  see  you  to-day ; 
but  I  am  glad." 

There  is  much  to  be  read  in  the  tone  of  a  woman's 
voice.  But  Perry's  unhappiness  made  him  obtuse. 
He  answered  what  she  said  :  "  Indeed,  you  have  been 
misinformed.  I  did  nothing  heroic.  I  was  pursuing 
no  line  of  duty  when  poor,  demented  Denvers  tried 
to  shoot  me,  and  certainly  should  have  got  out  of  the 
way  if  it  had  been  possible. " 

"  Oh,  you  do  yourself  injustice  I  But  I  refer  more 
particularly  to  your  attitude  since  the  awful  tragedy 
— your  attitude  toward  poor  Mrs.  Denvers.  Mrs. 
Underdunk  has  told  me — " 

"  Really,  if  you  get  your  information  from  Mrs. 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  937 

Underdunk,  it  is  not  at  all  reliable.  She  has  so 
warmly  and  so  nobly  espoused  Mrs.  Denvers's  cause 
that  even  I  have  come  in  for  a  bit  of  reflected  sym- 
pathy." 

She  smiled.  "  We  will  not  discuss  the  subject 
further  ;  but  I  insist  upon  regarding  you  in  a  heroic 
light." 

"  And  I  bless  the  misconception,  as  it  has  secured 
me  your  forgiveness." 

"  Yes,  my  forgiveness  ;  and,  since  we  are  in  so 
humble  a  mood,  I,  too,  must  ask  yours.  My  words 
of  the  other  night  were  unwarranted." 

But  he  protested  while  she  gently  insisted.  In  the 
process  of  the  discussion  he  seated  himself  next  her 
on  the  sofa.  Suddenly  he  lost  his  head  :  "  0  Chat- 
terton,  I  can  not  see  you  slip  away  from  me  like  this  ! 
I  love  you  ;  you  are  all  the  world  to  me  ! " 

But  she  shook  her  head  sadly. 

He  accepted  this  as  conclusive.  He  had  acted,  it 
is  true,  from  impulse,  but  his  whole  soul  had  gone 
out  to  her  in  the  few  simple  words,  and  he  felt  that 
if  they  did  not  move  her  nothing  would.  Yes,  he  had 
got  his  answer.  He  rose  slowly  to  his  feet,  took  a  few 
steps  toward  the  door,  paused,  then,  turning,  said  : 
"  Pardon  me  ;  I  was  not  justified.  I  should  not  have 
persisted  ; "  and  he  was  gone. 

On  mature  deliberation,  no  ;  there  are  some  things 
which  even  a  rising  market  will  not  warrant. 


238  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  Fifth  Avenue  house  belonged  to  Mrs.  Den- 
vers.  It  was  all  she  had  in  the  world  ;  it  was  to  be 
sold  at  once.  She  worked  indefatigably  at  the  neces- 
sary preparations.  In  this  she  was  the  more  coura- 
geous as  she  was  convinced  that  the  future  held  noth- 
ing for  her.  This  conviction  seemed  the  better  found- 
ed since  it  did  not  manifest  itself  in  that  violent  way 
which  suggests  that  there  may  be  some  hot  coals  amid 
the  ashes  from  which  to  rekindle  a  hope.  She  knew — 
although  not  guessing  the  extent — that  she  was  under 
social  embargo  for  having  been  unfortunate,  and  fully 
realized  that  gold  alone  could  purchase  rehabilitation  ; 
and  she  had  no  gold.  But,  mercifully,  misfortunes 
come  sequentially.  Mrs.  Denvers  now  scarcely  cared 
for  rehabilitation,  for  wealth ;  she  had  yet  to  reach 
the  stratum  of  the  socially  disparaged,  and,  below 
that  again,  the  substratum  of  the  generally  neglected. 
It  is  a  cruel  world,  my  masters,  and  a  bullying  world 
— a  weak,  lonely  woman  is  its  favorite  prey.  Alas  ! 
there  seems  slim  chance  of  improvement,  for  its  vota- 
ries will  insist  upon  standing  on  their  heads  and  view- 
ing moral  qualities  upside  down. 

As  was  her  custom,  Mrs.  Denvers  looked  the  posi- 
tion straight  in  the  face,  and  drew  her  conclusions. 
Her  life  might  be  made  useful,  but  not  contented  ;  a 
blessing  to  others,  but  it  would  remain  empty.  As 
far  as  her  data  went,  her  conclusions  were  usually 
correct.  She  told  herself  that. resignation  had  done 
much  for  her  in  the  past,  and  must  do  more  for  her 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  239 

in  the  future.  After  all,  this  is  the  sum  of  worldly 
experience.  We  may  preach  if  we  please  of  the  hap- 
piness which  can  be  made  to  follow  enforced  renun- 
ciation, but  the  fact  remains  that  the  necessity  is  the 
mother  of  the  philosophy.  Provided  we  are  left  free 
to  retain  or  to  forego,  some  may  reach  in  the  end 
altruistic  happiness,  but  few  of  us  wear  the  yoke 
of  involuntary  deprivation  with  unaffected  cheerful- 
ness. We  may  be  thankful  that  we  can  stump  about 
on  crutches  ;  but  test  the  contentment  by  the  offer  of 
a  chance  in  some  pool  of  Bethesda  ! 

To  be  sure  she  was  free.  But  what  is  the  use  of 
freedom  unless  there  be  at  least  a  remotely  possible 
chance  of  surrendering  it !  She  was  free  and  might 
have  been  happy  if — but  there  was  the  "if,"  there 
generally  is  the  "if."  This  little  "if"  islikeMer- 
cutio's  wound,  "not  as  deep  as  a  well  or  as  wide  as  a 
church  door,  but  'tis  enough." 

Dora  Denvers  was  lovely  in  her  mourning.  Perry 
knew  she  was  lovely.  He  would  sit  for  hours  and 
talk  with  her,  now  about  her  business,  now  of  Heaven 
knows  what,  and  was  all  the  while  conscious  that  she 
was  lovely.  But  it  meant  nothing  to  his  heart.  She 
was  his  best  friend  and  he,  please  God,  would  be  hers — 
that  was  all.  And  she — well,  she  was  happier  than  she 
had  been  for  many  a  long  day,  and  happier  than  she 
was  likely  ever  to  be  again.  Of  course,  it  was  dread- 
ful— almost  immoral.  She  ought  to  have  cried  her 
eyes  out  for  that  husband  to  whom,  living,  she  had 
accorded  all  the  devotion  that  either  he  or  duty  re- 
quired, but  who,  dead,  left  her  relieved  of  an  obliga- 
tion which  had  severely  taxed  resolution,  endurance, 
Christianity. 


24:0  -4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

Once  she  spoke  to  Perry  about  Chatterton.  He 
had,  in  few  words,  assured  her  that  he  would  never 
marry.  He  gave  no  reason,  but  she  needed  none. 
She  sighed — honors  are  so  unequally  divided  in  life, 
some  have  them  all  in  their  hands  at  its  game — and 
changed  the  subject. 

The  house  was  to  be  sold  and  Perry  had  charge  of 
the  sale.  From  the  proceeds  a  heavy  mortgage  on 
the  premises  was  to  be  paid,  then  Perry's  ten  thou- 
sand dollars — he  had  begged  to  be  allowed  to  remain 
her  creditor,  but  she  was  firm — and  some  other  unse- 
cured debts  of  her  unfortunate  husband.  For  these 
she  was  not  legally  liable,  but  she  insisted  on  regard- 
ing them  as  debts  of  honor.  Felix  assured  her,  to 
her  surprise  and  gratification,  that  even  after  her 
"  quixotic  debts "  were  paid  she  would,  most  likely, 
have  some  ten  or  twelve  thousand  dollars  left. 

Mrs.  Denvers  had  moved,  temporarily,  to  Mrs. 
Underdunk's  apartment,  as  the  sale  was  to  come  off 
at  once. 

The  auction  sale  was  on  the  premises,  and  was  well 
attended.  The  bidding  was  spirited  up  to  an  offer  of 
sixty-five  thousand  dollars,  but  higher  than  that  it 
did  not  seem  possible  to  force  it.  Just  as  it  was 
about  to  be  knocked  down  at  that  figure,  there  was 
an  unexpected  bid  of  ten  thousand  dollars  more.  It 
was  made  by  a  nervous  young  man  who  was  evidently 
but  an  agent.  After  some  delay,  the  young  man  was 
declared  the  purchaser.  He  whispered  the  name  of 
the  person  he  represented  to  the  auctioneer,  with  the 
injunction  to  keep  it  secret.  Every  one  said  it  was  a 
"  sell " ;  there  was  a  reserve  price,  evidently,  and 
the  premises  had  been  bought  in.  There  was  some 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  241 

indignation  manifested,  especially  by  the  man  who 
had  bid  sixty-five  thousand  dollars. 

Then  Perry  carried  the  good  news  to  Mrs.  Den- 
vers  that  his  prediction  had  been  verified ;  that,  as 
the  house  had  sold  for  seventy-five  thousand  dollars, 
she  would  have  fully  twelve  thousand  dollars  left  after 
all  the  debts  were  paid. 

The  morning  of  the  day  following,  the  man  who  had 
offered  the  sixty-five  thousand  dollars  received  a  call 
from  Mr.  Perry,  of  the  law-firm  of  Dodruff,  Pringle, 
and  Perry.  The  lawyer  stated  that  if  the  gentleman 
was  of  the  same  mind  as  yesterday  he  could  have  the 
premises  for  the  sum  he  had  offered.  The  gentleman 
said  he  did  not  like  that  way  of  doing  business  ;  that 
the  auctioneers  should  be  exposed.  Mr.  Perry  ex- 
plained that  it  was  not  the  fault  of  the  auctioneers, 
that  they  had  simply  done  their  duty.  Then  the  bar- 
gain was  struck,  but  not  till  Mr.  Perry  had  added 
that  he  must  ask  the  favor  of  having  the  considera- 
tion named  at  the  higher  figure,  namely  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars  ;  that  when  the  transfer  of  deed  was 
made  the  gentleman  would  receive  a  certified  cheque 
for  ten  thousand  dollars,  which  he  was  to  use  in  part 
payment  for  the  premises,  explaining  that  it  was 
merely  an  innocent  device  to  satisfy  a  hypercritical 
client.  And  so  it  was  arranged  and  so  it  was  carried 
out ;  but  Perry  to  this  day  has  the  uncomfortable 
feeling  that  one  man  in  New  York  suspects  him  of  an 
underhand  trick.  But  sometimes  the  end  justifies  the 
means,  let  abstract  moralists  say  what  they  please. 

Felix  Perry,  unlike  William  Chatterton,  had  not 
learned  his  methods  in  Wall  Street. 

And  now  business  affairs  were  concluded,  and  Dora 
16 


24:2  -A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

Denvers  was  to  go  to  an  aunt  in  the  country.  As  the 
day  approached  she  grew  more  and  more  silent,  and 
her  eyes  grew  larger  and  more  full  of  unuttered  sad- 
ness. 

Mrs.  Underdunk  was  very  gentle.  She  was  an 
astute  old  Samaritan,  and  saw  much  that  was  invisi- 
ble to  other  eyes.  But  she  kept  her  own  counsel,  and 
forbore  knocking  people's  heads  together,  marring 
plans  and  precipitating  catastrophes  upon  the  plea  of 
"duty."  But,  you  see,  she  was  only  a  Samaritan, 
and  did  not  know  any  better. 

Shortly  after  the  tragedy,  Mrs.  Denvers  had  re- 
ceived a  sweet  note  from  Chatterton.  It  had  been 
short,  but  had  displayed  such  warmth  of  feeling  and 
yet  such  gentle  discretion,  that  she  had  returned  her 
heart-felt  thanks,  verbally,  by  Mrs.  Underdunk.  Now 
that  but  one  more  day  remained  to  her,  she  sent  word 
to  the  young  girl  to  come  to  her ;  and  she  came  at 
once. 

Mrs.  Denvers  kissed  her  affectionately.  She  was 
very  quiet  and  soon  put  Chatterton — who  had  been 
under  unusual  and  unaccountable  restraint  upon  en- 
tering the  room — at  her  ease.  Dora  spoke  of  Perry 
almost  immediately ;  told  of  his  chivalry,  of  his 
tenderness  and  kindness  to  her.  At  last  her  persist- 
ence in  continuing  upon  this  one  subject  became  too 
marked  to  be  ignored,  and  Chatterton  hung  her  head 
in  confusion,  even  while  feeling  a  slight  sense  of  re- 
sentment. Soon,  however,  the  feeling  vanished.  In 
a  low,  sad  voice  the  older  woman  continued  :  "  Mis- 
fortune expands  our  horizon,  Chatterton,  and  shows 
us  more  of  the  scope  and  possibilities  of  life,  even 
while  revealing  its  pitfalls.  For  some  inscrutable 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  243 

reason  this  enlarged  vision  often  comes  when  it  is  too 
late  to  make  personal  use  of  it.  But  at  least  we  can 
be  useful  as  sign-posts  to  those  on  the  lower  plane,  if 
they  will  but  read  us  aright.  This  is  my  one  occasion 
to  show  you  and  Perry  certain  pitfalls,  and  to  point 
out  a  safe  path  to  happiness.  I  may  appear  abrupt, 
but  you  must  remember  that  this  is  my  only  oppor- 
tunity ;  let  this  be  my  excuse  ;  this  and  the  right  to 
indulgence  which  is  gained  through  suffering."  She 
paused  a  moment ;  then,  taking  Chatterton's  hand  in 
her  own  and  looking  her  full  in  the  face  with  great, 
earnest  eyes,  she  continued  :  "  I  like  you.  Your 
virtues  are  sterling,  and  your  faults  are  not  ungen- 
erous or  petty  faults.  But  I  will  not  deceive  you. 
My  chief  concern  is  for  Felix  Perry.  You  are  young, 
and  youth  is  magnificently  recuperative.  He  is  not 
so  young,  and,  besides,  is  terribly  in  earnest.  But 
let  me  hasten  to  assure  you  that  he  has  not  said  one 
word  to  me  upon  the  subject  of  his  love  for  you.  He 
merely  said,  when  questioned  by  me,  that  he  would 
never  marry.  But  I  have  drawn  my  own  conclusions, 
and  am  persuaded  they  are  not  far  from  the  truth. 
As  I  have  said,  my  interest  centers  in  him.  He  is 
my  best  friend.  Without  him —  "she  broke  down 
completely,  and  buried  her  head  on  the  young  girl's 
shoulder. 

Chatterton  was  deeply  moved. 

After  a  moment  Mrs.  Denvers  grew  more  com- 
posed, and,  raising  her  head,  continued  :  "  My  nerves 
are  unstrung ;  I  have  no  will-power  left,  it  seems. 
But  to  resume.  I  am  persuaded  that  Perry  loves  you, 
and  that  you  love  him,  and  that  something  has  come 
between  you  two.  Of  its  nature  I  can,  of  course, 


244  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

form  no  idea.  If  I  am  right,  let  me  beg  you  to  be 
frank  with  me.  Obstacles  which  seem  insurmount- 
able are  often  easily  removed." 

Chatterton's  face  flushed  scarlet.  She  paused  a 
moment,  then  gliding  to  her  knees,  buried  her  face 
in  Dora's  lap.  She  had  given  her  answer. 

Mrs.  Denvers  resumed  :  "Do  you  mind  telling  me 
what  has  caused  the  estrangement  ?  " 

Almost  inaudibly  the  answer  came  :  "He  ascribed 
to  me  unworthy  motives  and  acts.  He  thought  me 
capable  of  becoming  engaged  to  a  certain  man  with- 
out loving  him,  and  of  lightly,  and  without  warning, 
breaking  off  the  engagement." 

She  was  astonished  at  herself.  She  had  never  be- 
fore made  a  confidant  of  any  one,  and  now  she  was 
telling  her  soul's  secret  to  a  comparative  stranger ! 
The  interpretation  lay  in  the  potency  of  unselfish- 
ness. No  wonder  it  was  a  surprise  to  Chatterton. 
In  her  home  circle  she  found  little  evidence  of  the  ex- 
istence of  the  virtue  ;  unless  it  was  in  Bud  and  Dandy, 
and  neither  of  these  were  available  as  a  confidant. 

Mrs.  Denvers  was  stroking  the  girl's  hair.  "  Had 
he  no  reason  for  suspecting  this  ?" 

"No  real  reason.  No  reason  at  all,  except  that 
the  man  I  refer  to  told  him  we  were  engaged." 

"Only  that!" 

"  He  ought  not  to  have  believed  it !  I  should  not 
have  believed  it  of  him." 

"  Do  you  mean  that  Atherton  Leigh — forgive  me 
for  having  guessed  your  secret,  but  his  devotion  is 
too  marked  to  escape  notice — do  you  mean  to  say 
that  he  actually  told  Perry  you  were  engaged  to 
marry  him  ?  " 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  245 

"Yes,  but  Mr.  Perry  should  have  known  me 
better." 

A  sad  smile  crept  over  the  white  face,  but  it  was 
gone  in  a  moment.  "Alas,  Chatterton,  few  men  but 
would  have  thought  that  justification  for  mistrust." 

"  You  do  not  quite  understand,  Mrs.  Denvers.  I 
— I  had  shown  Mr.  Perry  that  I  liked  him.  I  had 
trusted  him  fully.  But  he  persisted  in  doubting  me. 
I  gave  him  more  than  one  hint,  but  he  would  accept 
nothing  but  a  direct  denial  till — till — " 

"  Till  what,  my  dear  ?  " 

"Till  he  had  offended  me  past  recovery,"  an- 
swered the  girl.  Then  added,  quickly  :  "  He  had  the 
grace  to  find  out  his  mistake  unaided,  or  else  I  never 
should  have  forgiven  him  ! " 

Mrs.  Denvers  sighed  ;  then  she  said,  "  I  suppose 
you  know  the  story  of  his  early  and  bitter  disappoint- 
ment?" 

"Yes." 

1 '  Are  you  quite  sure  you  make  sufficient  allow- 
ance for  the  effect  of  that  deception  upon  his  char- 
acter?" 

"  That  is  what  he  pleads,"  answered  Chatterton, 
naively,  "but  I  can  not  bring  myself  to  think  that 
because  a  man  has  been  once  unworthily  deceived  is 
any  reason  why  he  should  doubt  unworthily." 

Mrs.  Denvers  hesitated  ;  then  the  truth  forced 
itself  to  the  surface.  "  No,  it  is  not  a  valid  excuse. 
I  shall  not  use  sophistry  even  to  shield  him.  But 
deception  has  its  baleful  effect,  and  this  should  be 
remembered  in  extenuation.  Then,  remember  the 
proverbial  variableness  of  our  sex  ;  remember,  again, 
that  the  moral  practice  of  society  is  not  as  high  as  its 


246  -4    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

precept,  and  that  this  is  liable  to  create  uncertainty 
as  to  the  individual.  To  this  uncertain  basis  add 
Perry's  exceptional  experience,  and  upon  the  top  of 
that,  again,  Atherton's  assertion,  and  then  tell  me 
if  there  is  no  palliation  for  him  ?  " 

Chatterton  raised  her  face  :  "  To  one  who  will 
seek  it,  yes " — there  was  extreme  tenderness  in  her 
voice  as  she  quoted  almost  his  very  words — "and  I 
will  seek  it.  You  are  a  good  woman,  Mrs.  Denvers, 
and  I  shall  always  love  you.  You  have  taught  me  a 
lesson  in  unselfishness.  As  to  Mr.  Perry,  time  must 
prove  him.  My  confidence  has  been  sadly  shaken. 
Of  course  you,  who  are  so  wise,  so  gentle,  will  under- 
stand that  I  could  not  bear  to  have  him  told  of  this 
interview.  It  would  turn  me  against  him." 

"You  have  my  promise,  Chatterton.  But,  oh 
youth,  youth  !  how  prodigal  of  your  days,  of  your 
opportunities  !  You  play  the  game  of  love  with  the 
pawns  —  pride,  sensitiveness,  and  doubt — jealously 
guarded,  but  with  the  queen  exposed  to  danger  ! " 

"If  he  really  loves  me,"  answered  Chatterton, 
"he  will  not  be  turned  aside  by  the  pride,  the  sensi- 
tiveness, or  the  uncertainty." 

"  Were  not  you  turned  aside  by  his  sensitiveness, 
his  doubt  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that  was  quite  different." 

"No  doubt  you  are  right  in  a  degree,  but  not 
in  the  degree  you  think.  Still,  I  feel  that  all  will 
end  well,  although  I  shall  be  far  away  and  shall  not 
see  it." 

"  Will  you  not  return  if — when — " 

Dora  turned  away  her  face  to  hide  its  pain. 
Then  she  answered,  calmly :  "  I  fear  not,  my  child. 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  247 

My  world  is  to  be  narrowed  down  to  something  very 
like  a  prison.  Poverty  is  a  grim  jailer  and  it  is  hard 
to  elude  him.  Besides,  I  should  be  but  a  sad,  somber 
blot  on  a  picture  otherwise  all  light  and  color." 

There  were  a  few  more  affectionate  words,  and 
then  a  sad  farewell — a  passionate  farewell  on  the  part 
of  Chatterton — and  they  parted. 

The  next  morning  Perry  drove  np  to  take  Mrs. 
Denvers  to  the  railway-station.  After  the  last,  sad, 
grateful  words  to  Mrs.  Underdunk,  Mrs.  Denvers 
entered  the  carriage.  It  took  but  a  few  minutes 
to  reach  the  station,  and  in  a  few  more  they  were 
in  the  train.  Poor  Dora  turned  her  white  face  to- 
ward Perry  and  held  out  her  hand  in  a  last  farewell, 
but  he  calmly  seated  himself  by  her  side,  saying 
with  assumed  cheerfulness  :  "  And  did  you  suppose  I 
would  be  satisfied  with  such  leave-taking  as  this — 
hurried  through  as  if  we  were  bits  of  wood  pressed 
into  a  machine  to  emerge  shoe-pegs  ?  Not  a  bit 
of  it !  I  am  going  with  you  to  your  destina- 
tion." 

It  was  but  a  couple  of  hours'  ride,  but  they  took 
it  together.  Forever  and  forever  will  those  two  hours 
be  treasured  in  her  heart.  Two  hours !  In  retro- 
spection they  will  seem  to  her  in  one  aspect  minutes, 
in  another  an  infinity. 

But  everything  comes  to  an  end.  They  reach  a 
little  country  station,  and  alight.  There  stands  the 
vehicle  which  is  to  take  Dora  to  her  "home,"  and  on 
the  wings  of  the  wind  is  wafted  the  shriek  of  the 
approaching  train  which  is  to  carry  Perry  back  to 
the  city.  He  arranges  her  as  comfortably  as  the  car- 
riage admits  of,  then  takes  her  ungloved  hand  in  his 


248  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

and  reverentially  raises  it  to  his  lips  as  in  a  husky 
voice  he  says,  "Good-by,  my  dear,  dear  friend." 

Tears  are  streaming  down  her  face.  She  can  only 
whisper,  brokenly,  "  God  bless  you  !  " 

A  man  gazing  sadly  from  the  window  of  an  ex- 
press train  as  it  thunders  along  through  the  leaden 
landscape  of  a  bleak,  misty,  March  day;  a  woman 
sobbing  her  heart  out  in  the  corner  of  a  faded,  musty, 
jolting  carriage — their  lives  are  parted. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

ATHEKTON  LEIGH'S  attention  to  Mrs.  Dare  was  too 
marked  to  escape  notice.  Even  little  Bud,  in  her 
gentle  anxiety  for  all  whom  she  loved,  plucked  up 
courage  and  asked  him  if  he  was  not  very  devoted. 
He  answered  her  flippantly,  and  changed  the  sub- 
ject. But  Mrs.  Chester  was  not  to  be  got  rid  of  so 
easily.  It  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  the  good  argu- 
ments she  used  to  turn  him  from  his  infatuation. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  past  and  done  with  Athertons, 
Leighs,  Clappertons,  Biddepords,  and  Fortheringales 
were  marshaled  in  imposing  array  and  made  to  point 
ghostly  fingers  of  warning  at  the  insubordinate  scion 
of  their  illustrious  houses. 

Atherton  listened  dutifully,  promised  reformation 
— and  that  afternoon  drove  Mrs.  Dare  to  the  park. 
More  than  this,  meeting  "Miss  Mary"  as  she  was 
rolled  along  in  the  Polliver  Jones  chariot,  he  gave  her 
a  blithe  and  unabashed  bow  and  smile,  which  pro- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  249 

ceeding  so  upset  the  Chester-Fortheringale  equanimity 
that  the  good  lady  almost  forgot  to  finish,  for  the  edi- 
fication of  Mrs.  Polliver  Jones,  a  description  of  the 
magnificence  of  Chatterton  Hall. 

Perry,  too,  had  noticed  the  young  man's  devotion, 
and  found  himself  dwelling  upon  it  with  more  inter- 
est than  the  subject  seemed  to  justify. 

He  had  not  yet  called  Leigh  to  account  for  the 
statement  that  he  had  heen  engaged  to  Chatterton. 
Of  course  he  now  needed  no  refutation  of  that  asser- 
tion ;  nothing  but  a  sense  of  justice  would  impel  him 
to  show  Atherton  that  he  was  unmasked.  But  he 
hesitated  to  expose,  to  wound  him.  The  reason  for 
the  hesitation  was  the  same  that  controlled  him  in  all 
his  relations  with  this  volatile  youth — he  liked  him. 
He  could  not  understand  it.  He  told  himself  that 
never  were  two  characters  more  dissimilar.  They 
barely  possessed  an  antipathy  in  common.  They 
could  meet  on  no  neutral  ground,  for  they  could 
never  agree  upon  its  geographical  location.  To  be 
sure  they  both  loved  Chatterton,  but  they  loved  so 
differently  that  the  poverty  of  the  vernacular  alone 
justifies  the  classification.  And  yet  Perry  liked  him. 
It  must  have  been  that  he  admired  the  shell,  even 
while  despising  the  kernel. 

These  thoughts  passed  through  Perry's  mind  as  he 
stood,  embowered  in  tropical  plants,  and  saw  Mrs. 
Dare  pass  with  Atherton. 

The  hour  was  late  in  the  afternoon  ;  the  season,  a 
day  in  early  April ;  the  scene,  a  public  exhibition  of 
the  art  collection  of  a  collapsed  millionaire,  prior  to  a 
widely  advertised  and  extensively  heralded  sale. 

The  place  was  crowded.    The  eye  was  fairly  dazzled 


250  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

by  the  human  panorama  and  the  odd  back- ground  of 
huge  vases,  horrors  from  Japan,  abominations  in  the 
shape  of  Chinese  idols,  suits  of  armor,  sarcophagi,  rich 
draperies,  and  a  thousand  other  things,  and  was  only 
relieved  by  the  refreshing  green  of  hot-house  plants 
grouped  in  every  available  space. 

Perry  moved  on.  It  was  easier  to  move  than  to 
stand  still.  Besides,  he  was  unhappy,  and  with  most 
men  unhappiness  and  restlessness  are  concomitants. 
He  was  quite  alone.  Indeed,  he  preferred  to  be  alone, 
since  he  could  not  be  with  Chatterton.  Possibly  she 
might  be  here.  He  hardly  confessed  it  to  himself, 
but  it  was  this  chance  that  had  brought  him. 

He  suddenly  saw  Bud.  She  was  standing  alone, 
and  appeared  distressed.  In  a  moment  he  was  by  her 
side ;  but  before  he  could  address  her  she  cried,  im- 
pulsively :  "  Oh,  Mr.  Perry,  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you  ! 
I  was  getting  so  dreadfully  frightened.  I  have  lost 
Aunt  Mary  ! " 

"Never  mind,  Miss  Rosebud,  you  are  all  right 
now." 

"  But  we  must  find  her.     Oh,  there  she  is  !" 

The  missing  lady  swooped  down  to  the  rescue  of 
this  modern  Andromeda  with  as  much  concern  as  if 
the  bronze  and  china  carnivora  about  them  were  alive. 

When  the  flurry  had  subsided,  Mrs.  Chester  turned 
and  thanked  Perry  so  graciously  that  he  was  aston- 
ished, remembering  her  late  coldness.  Of  course  he 
could  not  know  that  there  had  recently  been  a  short 
but  brilliant  skirmish  between  Mrs.  Underdunk  and 
Mrs.  Chester,  with  him  as  casus  belli,  from  the  which 
the  former  lady  had  come  off  victorious.  This, 
coupled  with  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Governor  Llewellyn 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  251 

Tilbridge  had  warmly  espoused  Perry's  cause,  was 
significant,  and  Mrs.  Chester  forthwith  had  a  change 
of  heart.  She  admitted  to  her  daughter  that  Perry 
might  have  been  more  sinned  against  than  sinning ; 
that,  any  way,  she  was  determined — moved  thereto  by 
Christian  charity — to  extend  to  him  the  a?gis  of  her 
patronage. 

Having  had  enough  of  art,  Mrs.  Chester  and  Bud 
departed.  As  Perry  turned  to  continue  his  listless 
inspection  of  the  monstrosities,  he  saw  Mrs.  Dare. 
She  was  standing  alone,  almost  concealed  by  a  Japa- 
nese screen  and  a  mass  of  heavy  drapery.  It  was 
quite  evident  that  she  had  selected  the  vantage-ground 
with  a  purpose.  She  was  only  visible  from  the  spot 
where  Perry  stood.  He  was  startled  by  the  expression 
on  her  face  ;  never  before  had  he  seen  a  human  coun- 
tenance express  such  eager,  passionate  concentration  ! 
He  instinctively  followed  the  direction  of  her  eyes — 
why  did  he  grasp  the  back  of  the  chair  as  if  overcome 
by  a  sudden  revelation  ? 

Almost  immediately  he  recovered  himself,  and 
turned  to  find  Mrs.  Dare;  but  she. had  disappeared, 
and  he  hurriedly  traversed  the  now  fast  emptying 
halls  in  quest  of  her.  He  was  unsuccessful  till  he 
reached  the  exit  door. 

She  stood  there  as  calm  and  serene  as  a  May  morn- 
ing ;  not  a  trace  of  anxiety  on  her  smooth  brow. 

"What,  alone,  Mrs.  Dare?" 

"  Is  it  you,  Mr.  Perry  ?  Oh,  no ;  Mr.  Leigh  has 
gone  for  my  wrap." 

"I  hoped  to  have  the  pleasure  of  walking  home 
with  you." 

"It  would  have  had  the  merit  of  the  unaccus- 


252  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

tomed,  certainly.  However,  I  must  make  allowances, 
I  suppose.  Besides,  too  good  friends  to  quarrel ;  eh, 
Mr.  Perry  ?  " 

Of  course  he  responded  in  the  affirmative.  Then, 
as  he  saw  in  the  distance  Atherton  disentangling  him- 
self from  the  crowd  at  the  cloak-room,  he  hurriedly 
added:  "I  have  something  of  importance  to  say  to 
you.  Will  you  be  at  home  to-night  ?  " 

"I  am  sorry  ;  I  go  to  the  theatre  with  Mr.  Leigh. 
Is  it  so  very  important — will  not  to-morrow  do  ?  " 

"I  suppose  it  must." 

"  Possibly  you  might  come  late  to-night,  at —  " 

But  Atherton  was  upon  them  before  she  could 
finish  the  sentence.  However,  as  they  walked  off  she 
turned  to  pick  up  her  skirt,  and  Perry  rather  saw 
than  heard  her  lips  form  the  word  "Eleven."  A 
quick  glance  of  intelligence  showed  her  that  he  un- 
derstood. 

He  had  determined  upon  a  line  of  conduct  which 
few  would  have  voluntarily  assumed.  It  did  not  oc- 
cur to  him  to  shirk  a  disagreeable  undertaking  with 
the  excuse  that  it  did  not  concern  him.  He  held  that 
a  duty  was  imposed  the  moment  an  opportunity  of- 
fered, no  matter  if  there  were  others  to  share  the  re- 
sponsibility. In  the  present  case,  he  felt  that  it  rested 
exclusively  on  his  shoulders. 

A  few  moments  after  the  appointed  hour,  Felix 
stepped  from  the  elevator  at  Mrs.  Dare's  seventh-floor 
apartment  and  knocked  at  the  door.  It  was  opened 
by  his  hostess  in  person. 

"  Too  unconventional  an  hour  to  take  one's  serv- 
ants into  one's  confidence  as  to  the  limited  number  of 
one's  guests.  If  it  were  not  that  you  would  be  too 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  253 

flattered,  I  should  tell  you  that,  on  your  account,  I 
declined  a  most  tempting  invitation  to  Delmonico's, 
and  have,  I  fear,  thereby  offended  our  good  friend 
Mr.  Leigh — by  the  way,  I  am  indebted  to  you  for  a 
most  charming  acquaintance  ;  he  is  delightful  !" 

In  the  dining-room,  Perry  found  rather  elaborate 
preparations  for  a  tete-a-tete  supper.  In  these,  Mrs. 
Dare  excelled.  She  well  knew  that  few  men  rise  su- 
perior to  cold  game,  salad,  and  champagne  at  mid- 
night, and  some  instinct — though  hardly  a  foreboding 
— had  told  her  it  would  be  well  to  propitiate  this  par- 
ticular guest. 

When  they  were  seated  and  busily  engaged,  Perry 
said  :  "  You  do  not  ask  me  the  nature  of  the  impo'r- 
tant  business." 

"  Because,"  she  answered,  "  I  have  tested  it  with  an 
infallible  test,  and  find  it  of  an  unpleasant  nature,  and 
I  never  do  my  little  suppers  the  discredit  of  seasoning 
them  with  unnecessary  worry." 

"  And  your  infallible  test  is —  ?  " 

"  A  man's  manner.  If  your  news  had  been  pleas- 
ant, a  joyful  surprise  of  any  kind,  you  would  have 
got  rid  of  it  before  you  were  out  of  your  top-coat. 
Men  are  just  that  more  generous  than  women.  When 
I  saw  you  sip  your  wine  with  the  purpose  of  your  visit 
unrevealed,  I  said  to  myself,  'bad  news.'  Not  a  word, 
now,  upon  this,  please,  until  after  supper." 

He  had  felt  rather  guilty  at  accepting  her  hospi- 
tality, as  what  he  had  to  say  would  necessarily  either 
wound  or  incense,  depending  upon  the  correctness  of 
the  inference  he  had  drawn ;  but  he  had  not  known 
how  to  refuse,  and,  besides,  he  thought  it  both  wise 
and  kind  to  show  that  he  did  not  come  as  an  enemy. 


254:  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

When  the  meal  was  over,  Perry,  at  Mrs.  Dare's 
request,  pushed  the  table  into  a  corner  and  pulled  up 
two  arm-chairs  to  the  wood-fire,  and  soon  they  were 
both  exhaling  tiny  blue  curls  of  smoke  from  fragrant 
cigarettes. 

Felix  looked  admiringly  at  his  companion.  How 
handsome  she  was  !  Certainly  a  magnificent  woman  ; 
not  a  woman  to  reverence ;  not  a  woman  to  love, 
but  a  woman  to  admire  as  one  admires  a  high  type  of 
physical  development  in  any  member  of  the  animal 
kingdom. 

Perry  hesitated  to  begin — in  fact,  he  was  extreme- 
ly ill  at  ease  ;  he  found  the  undertaking  much  harder 
than  he  had  anticipated.  The  dilemma  was  certainly 
not  relieved  by  Mrs.  Dare's  challenge  :  "Now,  Mr. 
Perry." 

There  was  no  alternative.  "  Your  husband  was  a 
college  chum  of  mine,  as  you  know.  I  have  often  in- 
tended asking  you  the  particulars  of  his  death — by 
the  way,  if  you  do  not  mind,  when  were  you  mar- 
ried?" 

" About  eleven  years  ago." 

Her  manner  was  cold  and  formal. 

"Ah,  yes,  it  must  have  been.  Did  you  ever  hear 
that  I  met  with  a  misfortune  about  that  time  ?  I 
was  to  have  married  ;  the  day  was  fixed  ;  I  received 
a  letter  from  Dare,  introducing  a  friend  of  his."  He 
suddenly  looked  up.  She  was  taken  unaware.  The 
expression  of  her  face  told  him  all !  He  resumed  : 
"  This  man  ran  off  with  the  woman  who  was  to  have 
been  my  wife.  That  is  my  story,  now  for  yours  ;  but 
first,  believe  me  when  I  say  that  I  have  come  here 
with  no  ill  will  to  you,  no  desire  to  hurt  your  feelings 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  255 

unnecessarily,  to  injure,  or  to — to — forgive  me — ex- 
pose you." 

"  Expose  ! "  It  was  bravely  said.  She  had  risen 
and  stood  defiantly  before  him. 

"Allow  me  to  proceed." 

"  Not  a  word  more  !    You  have  insulted  me  ! " 

It  was  a  last  effort.  The  stag  was  at  bay,  but  the 
stand  was  hopeless.  He  was  sorry  for  her,  very  sorry. 
He  had  not  come  to  reproach,  much  less  to  revile. 
He  would  befriend  her  if — 

Presently  he  resumed  :  "  You  had  better  hear  me 
through.  Shall  I  prove  to  you  that  I  know  your 
secret  ? " 

She  realized  that  she  was  defeated,  but  would  not 
yet  yield.  She  exclaimed  :  "  If  you.  know  it !" 

"  I  do  know  it ;  to-day  I  discovered  it." 

"How?" 

"  Will  you  confess,  if  I  am  right  ?" 

"Yes" — it  was  a  whisper. 

From  a  kindly  impulse  he  lowered  his  eyes  as  he 
resumed  :  "  I  read  it  in  your  face  this  afternoon  as  you 
gazed  at  the  retreating  form  of  Eose  Hetherinton, 
your  daughter ! " 

She  sank  into  the  chair,  her  white  face  still  turned 
toward  him.  Glancing  at  her,  he  was  reminded  of 
the  night  of  the  Polliver  Jones  ball,  when  the  sight  of 
Bud  caused  her  so  much  emotion. 

"  Am  not  I  right  ?" 

"  Yes,"  came  from  her  parched,  bloodless  lips. 

He  hastily  rose,  poured  out  a  glass  of  water  and 
handed  it  her.  She  drank  it  eagerly.  Slowly  the 
color  returned  to  her  face,  and  her  eyes  regained  some- 
what their  normal  expression. 


256  4    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

He  could  not  but  admire  her  courage.  "  You  are 
brave,"  he  said.  "  I  shall  befriend  you  as  far  as  I  can. 
On  my  honor,  I  have  but  one  purpose  in  seeking  this 
painful  interview.  Agree  to  that,  and  I  will  not  dis- 
turb your  life  by  an  unnecessary  reference,  much  less 
by  exposure." 

"  State  your  terms,"  she  answered. 

"  Need  we  treat  as  enemies  ?"  he  asked,  kindly,  as 
he  seated  himself. 

She  looked  up.  "  Would  you  care  to  treat  as 
friends  ?  " 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

"Because,  because —  Oh,  Mr.  Perry,  do  you 
really  intend  to  be  kind  ?  You  would  not  deceive 
me,  would  you  ?  " 

"  You  know  I  am  incapable  of  it.  I  am  only  here 
because  of  a -sense  of  impending  evil — evil  which  I 
may  be  able  to  avert.  Why  do  you  doubt  me  ?  " 

"Because  I  have  learned  by  bitter  experience  to 
trust  no  one.  But,  oh,  I  will  believe  you  are  kind, 
for  I  do  so  much  need  a  few  kind  words  !  Think 
what  it  is  to  be  parted  from  my  child  !  Think  of 
what  it  means  to  me  to  have  to  pass  her  by  as  a 
stranger — no  word,  no  glance,  no  kiss  !  " 

He  looked  at  her,  pityingly.  Her  emotion  was 
genuine  ;  there  was  no  doubt  of  that.  Real  emotion 
has  a  way  of  bringing  its  credentials  with  it. 

Suddenly  she  leaned  forward  on  the  arm  of  the 
chair  and  faced  him,  a  new  resolve  shining  in  her 
eyes.  "  Let  me  tell  you  the  story  of  my  life.  I  swear 
to  omit  nothing,  to  extenuate  nothing.  May  be,  then, 
you  will  really  befriend  me.  Oh,"  she  cried, -"for 
one  friend  !  Not  a  lover  ;  not  one  to  suspect  my  mo- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  257 

tives,  but  a  real  friend.  A  friend  who  need  not  be 
blind  to  the  faults,  but  who  will  consider  the  tempta- 
tions, the  irresistible  force  of  circumstances,  and 
will  then  say  that  there  has  been  some  excuse  for 
me!" 

He,  too,  leaned  forward.  "  I  will,  as  far  as  hu- 
man nature  permits,  divest  myself  of  prejudice." 

She  thanked  him  with  a  glance,  and  began  :  "  My 
mother  died  at  my  birth.  My  father,  Major  Hag- 
gard, quarreled  with  my  brother  Clayton,  and  the 
boy — he  was  about  three  years  my  senior — ran  away 
from  home  and  went  to  Eichmond.  We  were  then 
living  in  Maryland.  Tiring  of  farming,  my  father 
sold  the  place  and  moved  to  Baltimore.  There  he 
married  me  to  Mr.  Hetherinton,  a  commission  mer- 
chant. I  did  not  love  my  husband.  In  fact,  love 
has  played  but  a  minor  part  in  my  life  so  far,  as  you 
will  hear.  This  man  was  a  devil !  He  ruined  my 
character  ;  he  taught  me  deceit  by  his  insane  jealousy. 
No  ordinary  course  of  life  satisfied  him  ;  I  could  only 
purchase  peace  at  the  price  of  hypocrisy.  I  was 
forced  to  circumvent  his  positive  orders  to  do  the 
simplest  and  most  natural  things.  If  I  wished  to 
write  even  to  a  woman  I  had  to  do  it  surreptitiously 
or  else  be  subjected  to  violent  outbursts,  to  the  most 
insulting  accusations  of  conspiracy.  The  end  was  in- 
evitable. Pray  remember  the  lack  of  moral  training, 
of  a  mother's  care.  When  I  look  back  at  this  period 
of  my  life  I  am  surprised,  not  that  I  acted  as  I  did, 
but  that  I  was  not  driven  to  something  worse.  As  it 
was,  I  grew  accustomed  to  deception  and  proficient 
in  it.  Eemember,  I  was  only  nineteen,  and  my  baby 
but  a  year  old.  At  this  time  there  was  a  man  very 
17 


258  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

devoted  to  me.  Oh,  Mr.  Perry,  it  is  hard  to  have  to 
expose  one's  faults  so  candidly  ;  a  woman  revolts  at 
it !  But  I  am  determined  to  tell  you  all.  For  eigh- 
teen years  I  have  kept  silent,  and  the  burden  of  the 
secret  is  heavy  ! " 

She  put  her  handkerchief  to  her  eyes,  paused  a 
moment,  and  then  resumed  :  "  No  doubt  you  im- 
agine you  guess  the  rest — but  you  are  wrong  !  I  am 
at  least  guiltless  of  that  sin.  Whether  it  is  more  to 
my  credit  that  I  was  saved  through  low,  sordid  mo- 
tives than  if  I  had  succumbed  to  an  overmastering 
emotion,  is  questionable.  However,  I  was  saved. 
This  man  again  and  again  urged  me  to  fly  with  him  ; 
I  as  often  refused.  I  did  not  love  him ;  his  one  at- 
traction was  that  he  came  of  good  family  and  moved 
in  the  circles  to  which  I  aspired.  In  this  last  confes- 
sion you  have  the  motive  power  of  my  life,  the  main- 
spring of  every  act  and  thought  !  But  to  resume. 
My  father  had  no  social  position.  My  mother's  peo- 
ple were  well  placed,  but  they  had  thrown  her  off 
when  she  married.  My  husband  was  a  self-made 
man  ;  a  man  of  low  origin,  low  cunning,  low  sus- 
picions, low  morals.  His  fortune  had  been  the  bait 
to  my  father's  rapacity.  However,  Nemesis  soon 
overtook  us ;  most  of  the  money  was  lost  in  specula- 
tion. 

"  The  man  who  pursued  me  was  my  only  link 
with  the  social  world  to  which  I  so  longingly  aspired  ; 
and  this  was  absolutely  the  only  reason  that  kept  me 
from  dismissing  him.  I  could  not,  it  seemed  like  sur- 
rendering my  only  chance  of  advancement.  I  saw 
him  surreptitiously.  One  day  my  husband  surprised 
us  together.  Of  course,  nothing  would  pacify  him. 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  £59 

But  that  he  was  a  coward  there  would  have  been 
bloodshed." 

She  paused  for  breath,  but  presently  continued  : 
"  I  telegraphed  to  Richmond  for  my  brother.  He 
came  at  once  and  espoused  my  cause.  Through  fear 
of  Clayton,  Mr.  Hetherinton  agreed  to  a  mere  separ- 
ation, and  Bud  and  I  went  to  Richmond.  Within  a 
year  I  heard  of  my  husband's  death.  Once  a  widow, 
I,  of  course,  supposed  that  my  former  admirer  would 
marry  me.  Imagine  my  indignation  on  hearing  that 
he  had  married  a  month  before  !  I  could  have  killed 
him. 

"  Well,  I  was  thrown  entirely  on  my  own  resources. 
I  had  little  money  ;  but  have  always  been  a  good  man- 
ager. And  now  I  began  the  hopeless  task  of  building 
for  myself  a  social  position  ;  starting  with  not  a  single 
advantage  and  unaided  save  by  my  woman's  wit.  As 
well  try  to  ladle  out  the  Atlantic  !  My  God  !  if  I 
had  expended  but  one  half  the  effort,  the  energy,  and 
the  perseverance  in  some  worthy  direction,  what  might 
not  I  have  made  of  my  life  ! 

"  At  Saratoga  I  met  Donald  Chester.  I  had  no 
difficulty  in  discovering  that  his  social  position  was 
excellent,  and  I  married  him." 

She  paused,  and  Perry  asked,  "  And  you  did  not 
love  him  ?  " 

."No.  As  I  have  told  you,  love  had  nothing  to 
do  with  my  acts.  I  did  not  know  what  love  meant. 
Men  said  that  I  was  handsome,  and  I  was  quite  ready 
to  sell  myself  for  social  position.  I  thought  I  suc- 
ceeded when  I  married  Donald,  but  I  was  mistaken. 
His  family  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  me.  He 
was  violent,  morose,  and  vindictive ;  no  doubt,  I  too 


260  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

was  to  blame.  Any  way,  for  one  year  we  led  a  miser- 
able life  of  it,  and  then  separated.  Of  course  you 
have  heard  what  followed.  But  one  thing  you  did 
not  hear,  namely,  that  I  knew  nothing  of  the  duel 
till  I  was  told  of  Donald's  death.  Of  the  truth  of 
this  I  swear  ! " 

"  I  am  glad  of  that ! "  said  Perry. 

"  Well,"  resumed  Mrs.  Dare,  with  a  heavy  sigh, 
"  I  went  to  Italy  with  Clayton.  He  died  there  of  Ro- 
man fever.  Then  I  returned  to  America,  and  went 
to  Boston.  There  I  became  incidentally  acquainted 
with  Dare,  and  through  him  heard  of  your  connec- 
tion with  the  story  of  Donald's  crime.  He  had 
known  Donald  under  the  name  of  Armitage,  and  I 
did  not  think  it  necessary  to  undeceive  him.  We 
were  soon  married.  Of  my  antecedents  Dare  knew 
nothing,  nor  did  he  care  to  know.  He  was  absolutely 
without  prejudice  ;  may  be  because  he  was  without 
heart.  I  had  again  been  unfortunate  in  my  choice. 
Of  course  the  inference  is  that  the  fault  was  chiefly 
mine.  As  far  as  profession  of  affection  without  the 
reality  constitutes  a  fault,  I  was  certainly  to  blame. 
But  in  each  case  I  really  tried  to  do  my  duty.  Why, 
then,  has  it  been  my  fate  to  meet  with  such  persistent 
disappointment  ?  " 

"Probably  because  you  expected  more  than  you 
proposed  to  grant.  Fate  does  not  often  give  bread  in 
exchange  for  a  stone,"  he  answered. 

"  Well,  it  is  all  one  now,  so  let  it  pass.  You  will 
remember  that  at  one  time  we  saw  you  here  in  New 
York.  Soon  after  that  Dare  died.  He  was  an  abject 
slave  to  drink ;  a  saint  could  not  have  turned  him 
from  it,  nmch  less  a  weak,  selfish  woman.  This  mar- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  <J61 

riage  had  not  advanced  me  one  jot  in  the  direction 
where  I  sought  advancement,  bat  it  brought  me  some 
money,  not  enough  to  buy  position,  but  enough  to 
keep  me  independent  —  an  inestimable  boon  to  a 
woman.  Time  passed.  I  moved  here  and  took  this 
apartment.  I  had  but  one  motive  in  this,  and  that 
was  to  marry  you.  I  soon  saw  this  was  hopeless. 
Still,  I  strove  to  use  you  as  a  stepping-stone  to  posi- 
tion. Your  generosity,  and  your  influence  over  Mrs. 
Denvers,  helped  me.  But  it  was  not  to  be.  I  was 
allowed  a  peep  inside  the  charmed  circle,  but  no 
more.  Oh,  Mr.  Perry,  words  can  not  express  the  in- 
sults and  slights  to  which  I  have  been  subjected  ! 
The  North  American  Indian  never  tortured  his  vic- 
tims at  the  stake  more  cruelly  than  the  women  of  the 
nineteenth  century  torture  theirs." 

"  Then  why  have  incurred  it  ?  "  exclaimed  Felix. 
"  Even  if  the  chance  of  success  had  been  changed  to 
ultimate  certainty  it  could  not  have  repaid  the  tor- 
ture ! " 

"  Go  ask  Mrs.  Polliver  Jones  if  it  could  not !  Mrs. 
Jones  who,  without  good  looks,  adaptability,  or  the 
least  fitness,  has  purchased  her  position  at  the  price 
of  so  many  dinners,  so  many  balls.  Oh,  do  not  for  a 
moment  suppose  I  blame  her.  Not  I  !  I  should  only 
too  gladly  have  done  the  same.  What  scope  is  ac- 
corded women  ?  In  how  many  directions  can  their 
ambition  find  vent?  You  men  have  many  openings, 
we  but  few.  I  thought  I  had  but  one,  and  have 
slaved  eighteen  years  in  that  direction,  and  have  only 
experience  left  me  for  my  pains.  Oh,  if  you  could 
know  how  I  have  striven  !  During  the  last  twelve 
months  I  have  averaged  six  hours  a  day  study.  I 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

have  daily  drilled  myself  in  committing  to  memory 
poetry,  plays — everything.  I  have  taken  lessons  from 
a  cultured  woman — formerly  a  woman  of  the  world — 
in  conversing,  so  as  to  become  fluent.  I  did  not 
know  my  deficiency  in  this  direction  till  I  heard  the 
trained  men  and  women  of  society  converse,  then  I 
realized  that  I  was  heavily  handicapped." 

"You  have  been  indefatigable,"  he  murmured. 

"But  it  is  over  now,"  she  resumed.  "Oh,  do 
not  pity  me — I  see  it  in  your  face — it  no  longer  has 
attraction  for  me." 

He  looked  at  her  in  surprise. 

"No,"  she  continued,  "  I  have  had  my  dream  and 
my  awakening,  and  I  know  that  the  one  was  fantastic 
and  the  other  real,  and  I  prefer  the  real ;  prefer  it, 
oh,  so  immeasurably  ! " 

He  was  about  to  speak  but  she  checked  him. 
"  One  moment,  I  wish  to  ask  you  a  question.  Think 
twice  before  answering  it,  and  then  answer  it  from 
the  depth  of  your  soul.  Considering  everything — 
the  lack  of  moral  guidance,  of  education,  my  training 
in  deceit,  my  utter  self-dependent  life,  not  a  single 
vantage-point,  not  a  single  friend  to  advise  me — con- 
sidering all  this,  I  say,  am  I  a  thing  to  be  shunned  ?  " 

"  No  ; "  he  said  it  emphatically. 

Encouraged,  she  continued  :  "  Oh,  if  only  some 
one  or  two  women  of  the  world  could  have  felt  and 
would  have  said  as  much  !  Do  they  never  ask  them- 
selves what  they  would  do  if  dependent  only  upon 
their  wits  to  help  them  ?  But,  no,  they  are  virtuous 
because  fortunate;  I  am  vicious  because  unfortu- 
nate. They  ride  the  wave  secure,  serene  in  the  life- 
boat, and  watch  me  buffet  the  rude  seas ;  and  if  I, 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  263 

sinking,  drowning,  grasp  but  the  gunwale,  they  ruth- 
lessly unclasp  my  frenzied  fingers  and  leave  me  to 
sink ! " 

Perry  was  inclined  to  demur,  but  remembering  in 
time  that  he  was  supposed  to  be  in  the  boat  to  which 
she  referred,  refrained. 

She  paused  a  moment ;  then,  a  gentler  light  com- 
ing into  her  eyes,  she  asked  :  "  And  now,  knowing 
all,  do  you  think  that  I  am  very  much  to  blame  ?  Of 
course  I  have  been  unwise,  have  been  weak,  have  been 
often  wrong.  Still,  do  you  think  me  very,  very  much 
to  blame  ?  " 

He  answered  unhesitatingly,  "Considering  the 
circumstances  and  the  fallibility  of  human  nature, 
no." 

With  an  impulsive  movement,  and  before  he  could 
protest,  she  seized  his  hand  and  carried  it  to  her  lips. 
"The  first  kind  words,"  she  murmured,  "the  first 
disinterestedly  kind  words  I  have  heard  in  eighteen 
years  !  Now" — catching  her  breath — "what  is  the 
condition  you  demand  for  silence  ?  Oh,  do  not  shrink 
from  stating  it,  you  have  conquered  me." 

Perry  mused  a  moment,  gazing  into  the  dying 
embers  at  his  feet.  Then  he  spoke  :  "  If  the  option 
were  left  me,  I  should  only  too  gladly  spare  you,  for 
you  have  suffered,  you  have  been  lonely,  you  have 
been  brave.  Of  course,  I  do  not  pretend  to  say — nor 
do  you  claim — that  your  life  has  been  an  exemplary 
or  a  wise  one.  Your  faults  have  been  conspicuous, 
your  judgment  weak,  your  ambition  somewhat  un- 
worthy your  intelligence.  Still,  if  I  had  the  least 
prompting  to  condemn  you,  I  need  but  look  back  at 
my  own  life  to  refrain,  need  but  recall  my  own  sins 


264  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

and  shortcomings  in  the  light  of  my  more  advanta- 
geous starting-point,  and  consequent  inclination  to 
conservatism,  to  be  forced  to  confess  that  I  am  the 
greater  transgressor." 

Few  obey  only  conspicuous  factors  in  a  confession 
of  humility.  There  is  usually  some  unadmitted  im- 
pulse. The  supplementary  incitement  in  Perry's  case 
was  the  recollection  of  fallibility  in  his  judgment  of 
Chatterton. 

"I  have  said,"  he  continued,  "that  a  sense  of 
duty  brought  me  here —  " 

"Stop  !  "  she  cried,  impulsively.  "  Call  it  kind- 
ness, fairness,  anything  but  duty !  I  know  you  are 
shocked,  but  listen.  That  word  is  for  me  portentous 
of  evil.  For  eighteen  years  it  has  prefaced  injustice, 
pain,  insult,  torture  !  '  From  a  sense  of  duty '  my 
father  married  me  to  a  man  who  held  that  virtue  was 
only  lack  of  opportunity.  '  From  a  sense  of  duty  * 
Donald  Chester  returned  to  his  home  rather  than 
face  the  results  of  his  own  deliberate  act.  'From  a 
sense  of  duty '  my  brother  killed  him.  '  From  a  sense 
of  duty '  that  brother  prevented  me  sending  money  to 
my  child  and  forced  me  to  sell  her  to  Colonel  Chat- 
terton. '  From  a  sense  of  duty '  the  women  of  the 
world  have  spurned  me.  And  now  you  are  about, 
'from  a  sense  of  duty,'  to  ask  me  to  give  up  Ather- 
ton  Leigh  !  Oh,  I  know  it,  I  have  seen  it  coming  ever 
since  you  showed  me  I  was  unmasked.  And  it  tears 
my  heart,  for  I  love  him  !  Yes,  Felix  Perry,  I  love 
him.  For  eighteen  years  I  have  struggled,  plot- 
ted, and  sinned  for  a  shadow,  and,  behold,  I  find 
the  substance  within  my  grasp,  but  only  long  enough 
for  you  to  appear  and,  '  from  a  sense  of  duty,'  to 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  265 

wrench  it  from  me.  What,  after  all,  is  the  highest 
moral  duty  ?  Is  it  to  follow  certain  narrow  rules,  to 
conform  to  the  letter  of  the  law  even  if  we  ignore  the 
spirit  ?  Is  it  to  bear  the  burden  which  the  task-mas- 
ters touch  not  with  one  of  their  fingers  ?  Is  it  to 
succumb  to  the  prejudice  of  those  who  will  not  disas- 
sociate the  innocent  from  the  guilty  ?  No,  the  duty 
of  life  is  love.  For  years  I  have  instinctively  groped 
— not  knowing  what  it  was  I  lacked — for  light,  as  one 
gropes  in  a  dark  room,  now  a  mistake  here,  now 
stumbling  along  foolishly  in  the  wrong  direction,  till, 
finally,  the  opening  is  found,  and  light.  And  am  I, 
who  have  just  begun  to  bask  in  the  light,  to  be  thrust 
back  into  the  darkness  ?  I  know  that  Atherton  is  in 
love  with  the  woman  that  you  love,  but  I  can  conquer 
that  hopeless  infatuation.  I  also  know  that  he  is  full 
of  faults.  He  is  dissipated,  volatile,  and  unstable — 
but  I  love  him.  Can  not  you  spare  him  to  me  ? 
Think  of  it,  he  has  asked  me  to  be  his  wife,  and  I 
have  promised  !  I  will  take  him  off  to  Europe.  Oh, 
I  shall  manage  it !  I  have  enough  money  for  both. 
Oh,  spare  him  to  me,  spare  him  to  me  ! " 

She  had  slid  from  the  chair  to  her  knees  by  Perry's 
side,  and  had  grasped  his  arm  with  passionate  earnest- 
ness ;  tears  coursed  down  her  cheeks,  and  her  bosom 
heaved  with  sobbing. 

Perry  was  deeply  moved  ;  but  what  could  he  do  ? 
To  temporize  would  be  no  real  kindness.  No  con- 
ception of  the  force  and  ardor  of  her  passion  had 
reached  him  until  now.  He  had  come  on  his  mission 
supposing  her  actuated  by  sordid  motives  ;  had  gradu- 
ally altered  his  opinion  and  credited  her  with  ambi- 
tious aims ;  and,  behold,  he  found  her  in  earnest,  ter- 


266  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

ribly  in  earnest,  and  swayed  by  that  impulse  which 
sanctifies  most  ends  and  justifies  very  many  means  ! 

She  gazed  into  his  eyes  with  all  her  soul,  awaiting 
his  answer.  As  it  did  not  come,  she  rose  slowly  to 
her  feet  and  let  herself  fall  into  the  chair.  Stilling 
her  sobs  as  best  she  could,  she  said,  with  touching 
humility,  "  I  suppose  it  can  not  be  !" 

"  What  consolation  can  I  offer  you  ? "  he  said, 
gently.  "  There  is  none  to  give.  You  can  not  ex- 
pect me,  surely,  to  allow  Atherton  to  marry  you  with- 
out knowing  your  history  ?  I  could  not  agree  to 
that.  Besides  the  absolute  wrong  in  such  a  course, 
consider  the  danger  !  However,  it  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion in  every  aspect." 

"  Would  he,  then,"  she  faltered,"  be  so  certainly 
repelled  if  he  knew  the  truth  ?  " 

"Alas,  I  fear  so!" 

"  Have  I  been  painted  so  very  black  ?" 

"  I  fear  you  could  not  overcome  his  prejudice. 
Remember  how  inextricably,  by  a  mere  association  of 
ideas,  indirect  causes  and  painful  results  are  con- 
founded in  the  mind  of  a  partisan.  It  is  the  way  of 
the  world." 

"  If  he  should  learn  the  truth,"  she  said,  pitifully, 
"  would  you  withdraw  your  opposition  ?" 

"  Certainly,"  he  answered  ;  then  continued  :  "My 
only  object  is  to  prevent  future  unhappiness.  As- 
sure me  that  you  will  not  marry  Atherton  till  he 
knows  all,  and  I  will  interfere  no  further.  I  realize 
the  sacrifice  it  will  cost ;  but  consider,  too,  the  cost 
of  refusal !  Atherton  would  surely  sooner  or  later 
learn  the  truth — there  are  always  busybodies  ready  to 
scatter  misery  and  destruction  broadcast  in  the  name 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  267 

of  duty,  as  you  have  said — then  he  would  turn  from 
you  forever." 

"  I  might  have  at  least  one  year  of  happiness." 

"  It  would  not  be  happiness.  Happiness  implies 
peace,  and  there  can  be  no  peace  between  deliberate 
deception  and  impending  detection." 

"  Still,  I  could  be  no  more  unhappy,  no  more  be- 
reft and  forlorn  than  I  now  am  !  Will  not  you  let 
me  have  my  one  year  ?" 

"  Why  compel  me  to  appear  unfeeling  ?  There 
are  certain  deceptions  where  the  accessory  is  more 
guilty  than  the  principal.  You  have  the  justifica- 
tion of  strong  emotion.  Besides,  love  is  blind.  I  see 
clearly,  and  would  be  the  more  culpable." 

"  What  would  you  have  me  do  ?  "  She  was  crying 
in  a  quiet,  hopeless  way. 

"  Give  me  your  promise.  Come,  be  brave,  be 
just.  Overcome  your  inclination,  your  love,  because 
they  are  opposed  to  what  is  right.  Do  you  promise  ?  " 

She  pressed  her  hand  to  her  side  convulsively,  as 
if  in  physical  pain,  as  she  whispered,  "  I  do  !" 

He  rose  at  once  to  his  feet.  "You  have  decided 
nobly,"  he  said,  "  and  have  won  my  respect.  Hence- 
forth, count  me  as  your  friend,  and  call  upon  me  when 
I  can  assist  you." 

"I  thank  you,"  she  said  quietly;  then  added, 
"  but  do  not  expect  too  much.  I  will  keep  my  prom- 
ise, come  what  may  ;  but  I  fear  my  heroism  will  end 
there." 

"  What  is  to  be  your  life  ?"  he  asked,  anxiously. 

"  I  do  not  know.  I  suppose  I  shall  drift  back 
into  the  old  life.  May  be  I  shall  marry  Mr.  Bramble." 

It  was  pitiable  ;  and  yet  he  could  give  no  advice. 


268  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

Silence  was  his  only  course.  He  would  not  descend 
to  platitudes,  and  bid  her  live  merely  in  the  recollec- 
tion of  one  good  deed.  Expediency  held  a  certain 
place  in  the  simple  ethical  code  by  which  he  was 
judging  her— charitably  imposing  no  more  rigid  canon 
— and  he  felt  it  better  that  she  should  marry  the  old, 
pretentious,  miserly  millionaire  than  be  driven  by 
loneliness  and  desperation  to  recklessness. 

"Promise  me  that,  at  least,  you  will  do  nothing 
rashly.  May  I  beg  that  you  will  notify  me  before 
taking  an  irretrievable  step  ?" 

She  looked  up  at  him  with  a  little,  forlorn  smile. 
"It  is  nice,"  she  said,  "to  have  a  friend.  Yes,  I 
promise."  Then,  as  he  was  about  to  leave,  she  added  : 
"  Of  course,  I  wish  you  to  keep  my  secret.  I  make 
but  one  exception  :  if  you  marry  Chatterton  Ches- 
ter— "  He  shook  his  head  sadly,  but  she  insisted. 
"  Oh,  I  know  you  are  not  hopeful  now,  but  I  foresee 
the  end.  Well,  if  you  marry  her,  take  her  somewhere 
off  in  the  woods — down  in  Virginia,  may  be — and  tell 
her,  gently  and  kindly,  but  nothing-withholding  and 
freely,  the  history  of  Ariadne  Haggard.  She  looks 
kind  and  large-minded,  and  as  if  she  would  at  least 
respect  my  desire  for  concealment.  I  do  not  wish  my 
only  friend  to  have  my  secret  apart  from  his  wife. 
Besides,  who  knows,  may  be,  before  I  die,  one  woman, 
even  if  it  be  the  sister  of  poor,  murdered  Donald, 
may  think  kindly  of  me  ! " 

He  was  moved  more  than  he  would  have  cared  to 
confess,  as  they  parted.  He  left  her,  hopeless  and 
forlorn,  by  the  dying  embers  in  the  grate  and  the  dead 
embers  of  her  misspent,  hapless  life. 

As  he  walked   home  through  the   now  deserted 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  2G9 

streets,  with  the  stars  of  a  balmy  April  night  looking 
down  upon  him  from  their  limitless  abode,  and  a 
young,  fresh  breeze  gently  fanning  his  cheek,  he  re- 
peated to  himself  the  admission  he  had  lately  made. 
Yes,  he  had  woefully  abused  his  opportunities.  This 
woman  had  started  in  life  with  everything  against 
her,  and  yet  had  known  how  to  welcome  love,  while 
he,  who  had  so -confidently  boasted  of  the  enlarging 
influence  of  experience,  had,  when  the  test  came,  ana- 
lyzed his  love,  had  demanded  bonds  of  Fate,  had 
caviled  and  doubted.  And  Chatterton — Chatterton, 
who  had  argued  in  such  narrow  grooves — what  of 
her  ?  She  had  expanded  while  he,  alas !  had  con- 
tracted. A  misinterpretation  of  the  lesson  of  experi- 
ence, he  sighed  to  himself,  is  a  waste  which  leaves  one 
poor  indeed ! 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

A  DAY  arrived  when  Mr.  Chatterton.  by  dint  of 
perseverance,  cunning,  and  knowledge  of  certain 
phases  of  human  nature,  succeeded  in  disposing  of  his 
last  share  in  "The  Braddox  Patent  Company."  Cu- 
pidity sharpens  certain  wits  as  nothing  else  can. 

The  president  received  the  resignation  of  the  sec- 
retary and  treasurer  with  mingled  feelings  of  astonish- 
ment and  contempt.  That  the  man  who  had  been 
chiefly  instrumental  in  forming  the  company,  who 
had  placed  the  stock  in  the  hands  of  his  friends  with 
the  most  confident  assurances  of  enormous  gains, 
who  had  paid  nothing  for  his  shares,  that  this  man 


270  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

should  sell  out  within  six  months  was  a  positive  crime 
in  the  eyes  of  the  upright  old  enthusiast.  He  did 
not  fear  the  effect  of  this  defection  upon  the  ulti- 
mate success  of  his  inventions.  Men  might  come 
and  men  might  go,  but  physical  laws  would  remain 
unaffected.  Artificial  irrigation  would  fructify  the 
earth  just  as  efficaciously  without  as  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Mr.  William  Chatterton. 

The  General  was  far  more  disturbed  by  a  request 
from  his  daughter  to  be  allowed  to  make  a  certain 
offer  to  the  company.  She  at  length  secured  his 
grudging  consent  by  an  appeal  to  his  fairness.  Waa 
not  it  right  that  the  stockholders  should  themselves 
decide  upon  the  offer  ?  It  pained  her  to  see  him 
annoyed  and  dejected,  but  the  end  in  view  was,  in 
her  sight,  so  righteous  as  to  warrant  even  this  sacri- 
fice. The  Xreneral  promised,  but  reserved  the  right 
to  oppose  the  adoption  of  the  measure.  He  was  per- 
fectly sincere  in  averring  that  he  considered  it  pecun- 
iarily advantageous  to  him,  but  was  persuaded  that 
it  would  be  ruinous  to  the  company.  Chatterton 
observed,  with  a  sense  of  relief,  that  he  did  not  seem 
the  least  wounded  by  a  proposition  which  implied 
anything  but  a  flattering  comparison  between  her 
success  and  his  failure  as  an  inventor.  Genius  may 
overcome  prejudice — prejudice  genius,  never ;  this  was 
the  General's  practical  creed — the  only  practical  thing 
about  him. 

With  the  advice  of  her  father,  Chatterton  con- 
sulted Mr.  Polliver  Jones.  In  him  she  found  a  warm 
ally,  much  to  the  General's  surprise  and  discomfit- 
ure. Mr.  Jones,  in  fact,  became  so  enthusiastic  a 
partisan  of  the  }roung  financier  as  to  mentally  bestow 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  271 

upon  her  the  highest  patent  of  nobility  within  his 
gift,  namely,  the  title  of  a  "stunner." 

From  him  Chatterton  incidentally  heard  of  Perry's 
strange  course  in  the  matter  of  the  sale  of  Mrs.  Den- 
vers's  house.  The  purchaser  was  a  Mr.  Brown,  who, 
by  a  coincident,  happened  to  be  the  person  to  whom 
Chatterton  had  sold  her  patent.  He  was  a  friend 
of  Mr.  Jones,  and  had  told  him  of  the  mysterious 
cheque  for  ten  thousand  dollars. 

With  the  comment,  "Odd,  ain't  it?"  Mr.  Jones 
departed,  having  failed  to  excite  the  president  to  even 
a  show  of  interest  in  his  gossip.  Then  the  General 
retired  to  his  laboratory,  intent  upon  developing  a 
contrivance  for  milking  cows  by  electricity — a  device 
intended,  doubtless,  as  accessory  to  the  famous  churn, 
the  success  of  which  seemed  to  his  mind  to  imply 
that  fashion,  a  la  Marie  Antoinette,  had  turned  its 
attention  to  the  dairy. 

Chatterton,  too,  was  working  out  a  problem,  but 
with  more  success.  It  did  not  take  her  long  to  re- 
solve it ;  Perry  had  adopted  this  roundabout  means 
of  returning  to  Mrs.  Denvers  the  money  she  had  re- 
paid him.  That  Mrs.  Denvers  should  feel  impelled  to 
pay  her  husband's  debt  of  honor  had  impressed  Mrs. 
Underdunk — a  pessimist  from  infelicitous  experience 
with  the  world — as  so  creditable  that  she  had  bruited 
it  far  and  wide. 

Chatterton  solved  the  riddle  to  her  complete  satis- 
faction, but  kept  her  own  counsel,  after  the  manner 
of  some  of  her  sex. 

On  the  following  day  the  stockholders  met  and 
took  up  the  consideration  of  Chatterton's  offer.  It 
amounted  to  this  :  The  company  to  cede  all  right 


272  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

and  title  to  her  father's  patents,  and  to  change  its 
name.  In  return,  Chatterton  Chester  to  transfer  to 
the  company  all  right  to  such  royalty  as  should  there- 
after be  paid  by  Mr.  Brown  and  his  associates  during 
the  life  of  her  patent,  she  retaining  all  sums  hitherto 
paid  her  by  Mr.  Brown.  As  supplementary,  General 
Chester  to  surrender  all  his  stock,  which  stock  was 
to  be  divided  pro  rata  to  the  other  holders.  In  lay- 
ing this  offer  before  the  stockholders,  the  president 
strongly  opposed  its  adoption,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
agreed,  by  way  of  leaving  the  question  untrammeled, 
to  cede  his  stock  in  case  the  association  decided  to  ac- 
cept the  proposition. 

And  the  association  did  decide  to  accept  it,  by  an 
overwhelming  majority,  notwithstanding  Atherton 
Leigh's  excited  and  even  violent  protest.  He  tragi- 
cally announced  his  intention  of  legally  contesting 
the  action,  but  eventually  contented  himself  with 
transferring  his  stock  in  bulk  with  the  General's. 

And  thus  exploded  the  bubble,  after  a  short  but 
eventful  career,  and  the  "  Braddox  Paten  fcs  Company  " 
was  relegated  to  the  limbo  of  failures,  there  to  join  its 
great  South  Sea  prototype. 

Poor  Chatterton  was  made  to  pay  heavily  for  her 
success.  The  General  said  not  a  word  of  reproach, 
but  she  was  conscious  that  he  felt  deeply  the  collapse 
of  his  idolized  company.  To  be  sure,  he  had  already 
arranged  an  agency  for  his  patents,  but  the  scepter 
had  departed  from  him. 

Crabb  never  compiled  more  synonyms  for  reproach 
than  Mrs.  Chester  heaped  on  Chatterton's  devoted 
head.  Her  daughter,  her  own  child — by  some  mys- 
terious mental  process  the  tautology  seemed  to  em- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  273 

phasize  the  crime  —  had  turned  against  her;  had 
diverted  the  rich  harvest  of  honor,  renown,  and  gold 
which  needed  but  the  thrusting  in  of  the  sickle  to  be 
reaped  !  Metaphor  and  neuralgia  were  concomitants 
when  Mrs.  Chester  lamented.  She  might  be  meta- 
phoric  when  not  neuralgic,  but  the  converse,  never. 
Next  to  neuralgia,  taking  to  her  bed  was  her  most 
withering  rebuke,  and  she  now  indulged  ostentatiously 
in  both  forms  of  reprobation.  Bud — useful,  tender- 
hearted Bud  —  came  in  for  the  major  part  of  the 
visitation,  as  Chat^erton  had  been  haughtily  banished 
the  presence.  Dandy  was  made  to  feel  the  outer 
edge  of  the  storm,  being  bound  over  in  heavy  penalty 
to  be  at  two  places  at  one  and  the  same  time — namely, 
out  walking  with  "Mars'  Reg,"  and  within  call  of 
"Mistisses  bell." 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  Perry,  weary  after 
a  laborious  day  in  court,  lay  on  his  lounge  reperusing 
a  letter  he  had  that  morning  received.  It  ran  as 
follows  : 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  forbearance  deserves  recogni- 
tion at  my  hands.  I  am  aware  you  believe  I  deceived 
you  when,  on  the  road  to  Braddox  Station,  I  an- 
nounced my  engagement  to  Miss  Chester;  and  yet 
you  have  not  called  me  to  account.  If  I  had  not 
already  tested  it,  I  should  now  most  certainly  doubt 
your  courage.  As  it  is,  I  credit  your  forbearance  to 
a  moral  standard  which  is  high  to  you,  however  inade- 
quate it  appears  to  me. 

"I  am  in  the  unusual  mood  which  prompts  me  to 
set  certain  things  right — rather  quixotic  in  such  a 
world — and  I  begin  with  you.  Miss  Chester  and  I 
18 


274  A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

as  children  considered  ourselves  engaged  to  be  mar- 
ried. Since  then  I  have  regarded  us  both  as  pledged, 
and  have  tried  to  hold  Miss  Chester  to  it.  But  she 
has  not  ratified  the  bargain,  although  till  quite  re- 
cently her  mother  and  I  had  little  doubt  but  that  she 
ultimately  would. 

"This,  sir,  is  my  explanation.  The  fact  that  I 
send  you  these  lines  is  the  best  evidence  I  can  give 
that  you  have  conquered  a  deep-rooted  prejudice  ; 
but  I  no  more  understand  your  influence  than  I  do 
your,  to  me,  peculiar  moral  code. 
"  I  remain,  sir, 

"Your  obedient  servant, 

LEIGH. 


"  P.  S.  —  When  you  read  these  lines  I  shall  be  a 
married  man.  This  approaching  event  has  prompted 
the  desire  to  straighten  out  my  bachelor  record. 

"A.  L." 

Could  Mrs.  Dare  have  repented  of  her  promise  ? 
But  Perry  discarded  the  thought  :  no  ;  doubtless  she 
had  postponed  its  fulfillment  till  the  last  moment  in 
the  forlorn  hope  of  some  merciful  intervention.  He 
pitied  her  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  knowing 
that  Atherton's  passionate  resentment  would  be  cruel, 
if  not  positively  brutal. 

But  his  thoughts  were  turned  to  a  more  engross- 
ing theme  —  a  note  from  Chatterton.  She  requested 
him,  if  not  otherwise  engaged,  to  see  her  that  evening 
in  regard  to  a  matter  of  importance. 

Hope  is  an  animal  of  wonderful  endurance.  Like 
the  camel,  it  can  go  for  days  with  nothing  to  sustain 
life,  and  yet  will  show  remarkable  animation  at  the 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  275 

faintest  suggestion  of  an  oasis  borne  on  the  freshen- 
ing breeze. 

When  Perry  was  admitted  into  Chatterton's  pres- 
ence he  found  her  demurely  intent  upon  one  of  those 
intricate  crochet  puzzles  which  promise  nothing  and 
faithfully  keep  their  vows. 

Of  course  Felix,  with  the  alertness  of  a  lover,  no- 
ticed the  demureness,  and  uneasily  puzzled  his  brain 
for  the  interpretation. 

"  No  doubt  you  are  curious  to  know  the  nature  of 
the  important  business,"  she  said.  "But  first,  have 
you  heard  that  the  company  has  changed  its  name, 
and  has  surrendered  papa's  patents  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes ;  Mr.  Dodruff  told  me.  He  is  full  of 
praise  of  you,  as  well  he  might  be  !  You  have  done 
just  the  right  thing." 

"I  am  glad  you  approve.  I  am  happier  than  I 
have  been  since  we  first  began  negotiations  with 
Cousin  William.  It  is  delightful  to  feel  that  we  are 
under  obligations  to  no  one  ! " 

"What  a  passion  you  have  for  independence,"  he 
said,  rather  regretfully. 

"  Do  you  wonder  at  it  in  this  case  ?  " 

"Certainly  not.  I  knew  you  would  be  pleased. 
But  the  satisfaction  does  not  detract  from  the  merit 
of  your  generosity." 

"  Oh,  yes  it  does,  Mr.  Perry.  Only  they  are  truly 
generous  who  '  do  good  by  stealth  and  blush  to  find  it 
fame.'" 

He  accepted  this  as  merely  a  generalization. 

"And  now  to  business,"  she  resumed,  carefully 
counting  off  several  stitches.  "  I  wish  through  you, 
as  Cousin  William's  lawyer,  to  make  him  an  offer.  You 


276  -A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

see,  I  share  his  dislike  to  dealing  directly  with  relatives 
in  money  matters  ;  it  must  be  a  family  trait.  I  wish 
to  offer  him  five  thousand  dollars  for  the  Chatterton 
estate.  I  do  not  stop  to  ask  if  he  has  made  the  profit 
which  would  entitle  us  to  claim  the  land,  I  make  him 
the  direct  offer.  I  name  the  especial  sum,  because  it 
is  all  I  have  to  give."  The  work  is  held  in  idle  hands, 
and  she  is  gazing  earnestly  at  Perry.  "I  made  this 
money  by  my  churn.  Oh,  I  made  more,  too  !  but  the 
rest  is  gone  to  pay  our  expenses  here.  Of  course  the 
place  is  worth  much  more  than  five  thousand  dollars  " 
— Perry  files  a  mental  exception — "  but  I  trust  that 
Cousin  William  will  take  into  account  the  money  he 
has  made  through  the  patents,  and  will  be  generous." 

Perry  was  about  to  exclaim  that  Mr.  Chatterton 
would  be  a  brute,  else,  when  he  remembered  that  he 
was  his  client,  and  forebore.  Of  course,  he  promised 
compliance,  and  they  talked  of  other  things. 

"  May  I  ask  your  intentions  for  the  future  ? " 
Perry  presently  inquires.  "  Shall  you  remain  here 
long?" 

"  Oh,  no  ;  we  return  to  Braddox  just  as  soon  as 
these  business  matters  are  settled." 

He  hears  her  with  a  sinking  heart.  It  is  hard  to 
have  to  stifle  all  expression  save  the  merely  conven- 
tional. Probably  he  has  no  idea  how  little  conven- 
tional is  the  tone  in  which  he  says,  "  I  am  sorry." 

"For  some  reasons  so  am  I,"  she  answers.  "I 
shall  leave  behind  me  some  good  friends  and  many 
agreeable  acquaintances.  And  yet,  for  other  reasons, 
I  am  glad.  I  shall  be,  oh,  so  glad  to  tread  again  the 
pine-needles  and  moss,  and  be  able  to  think  that  the 
place  is  really  ours — you  see  I  am  confident  of  your  sue- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  277 

cess  with  Cousin  William.  "What  I  care  to  own  at  all 
I  must  own  absolutely — must  feel  that  I  can  revel  in. 
I  seldom  grow  very  enthusiastic,  but  sometimes  I  do, 
and  now  the  prospect  of  my  happiness  actually  thrills 
me  !  "We  will  own  Chatterton,  own  it  absolutely  and 
unchallenged,  and  I  shall  feel  like  kissing  every  tree 
and  shrub ;  yes,  and  will  kiss  dear  old  Mammy,  and 
Empress,  my  mare,  and  Caesar,  my  dog,  and  all  the 
animate  and  inanimate  dear  things  about  the  place  ! " 

Not  demure  now  !  The  nondescript  work  has  fallen 
neglected  to  the  floor  ;  the  erst  busy  hands  are  clasped 
in  her  lap  ;  the  voice  which  lately  counted  stitches  is 
now  quivering  with  excitement.  She  is  not  over  her 
outburst :  "  Oh,  if  only  1  could  have  dear  Mrs.  Den- 
vers  down  there  !  Dear,  kind,  unselfish  Mrs.  Den- 
vers.  I  envy  you,  Mr.  Perry,  and  I  envy  her.  The 
world  says  such  friendships  are  impossible,  but  you 
two  prove  that  the  world  is  wrong. " 

"What  is  carrying  her  along !  She  is  not  yet 
through :  "  Oh,  I  know  better  than  any  one  else 
knows  how  good  each  of  you  can  be  to  the  other 
without  the  other  guessing  it !  I  ought  not  to  tell 
you  what  I  have  discovered ;  it  is  none  of  my  busi- 
ness, but  I  am  happy  and  can  not  keep  silent.  We 
are  out  of  that  hated  patents  company  ;  we  are  going 
home ;  Chatterton  is  ours  ;  I  feel  glad  through  all 
my  being,  and  I  must  speak  !  Besides,  I  am  a  Vir- 
ginia girl,  born  and  bred,  and  have  not  been  taught 
worldly  discretion ;  any  way,  I  don't  care,  I  will 
speak  !  You  are  a  good  man  ;  you  subjected  yourself 
to  the  imputation  of  selfish  motives  so  as  to  be  able  to 
give  your  friend  ten  thousand  dollars — there  ! " 

Had  he  been  caught  stealing  he  could  not  have 


278  -4    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

been  more  confused.  "  Indeed,  you  do  me  more  than 
justice,"  he  stammers.  "  Poor  Denvers  borrowed  the 
money  of  me  before  his  failure,  and  Mrs.  Denvers  in- 
sisted upon  returning  it.  As  I  considered  this  quix- 
otic on  her  part,  I  took  the  only  means  I  could  find 
to  repay  her.  How  did  you  hear  of  it  ?  " 

"By  accident,"  she  answers.  "Mr.  Polliver 
Jones  heard  the  mere  facts  from  Mr.  Brown,  and  I 
guessed  the  rest." 

She  is  regaining  her  equanamity,  and  Perry  is  in 
despair.  Better  anything  than  that  the  light  of  ex- 
citement should  die  from  her  face  ! 

"  Oh,  Miss  Chester — Chatterton  !  Have  I  sinned 
past  all  forgiveness  ?  I  do  so  freely  confess  my  fault. 
I  make  no  excuse.  There  is  no  palliation,  I  know — " 

"  Not  if  one  will  seek  it,  Mr.  Perry  ?  " 

He  is  overcome  by  the  dazzling  hope  her  words 
and  her  tone  hold  out  to  him,  and  can  only  stammer  : 
"  And  will  you,  can  you  forgive  ?  " 

The  lately  resumed  work  is  again  neglected  as  she 
turns  up  to  him  her  serious  eyes.  "  I  doubt  if  of  my 
own  accord  I  could  ever  have  completely  put  away 
the  recollection  of  your — your  misconception  ;  but 
Mrs.  Denvers,  your  friend — our  friend  " — her  voice  is 
exceeding  gentle,  and  in  her  eyes  are  gathering  tears — 
"has  shown  me  that  I  judged  you  too  harshly  ;  that 
in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  your  past  I  should 
look  for  your  excuse,  and — well,  I  have  found  it ! " 

It  is  the  old  story  ;  there  is  nothing  new  to  tell ; 
the  account  is  as  stereotyped  as  the  language  of  Crea- 
tion stamped  upon  the  everlasting  hills.  And  yet  the 
story  has  in  reality  lost  nothing  of  its  delicious  nov- 
elty, and  will  not,  please  God,  so  long  as  there  are 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  279 

hearts  to  feel,  lips  to  utter,  lives  to  be  elevated,  Heav- 
en to  be  propitiated,  and  beings  to  be  "  lapped  in  uni- 
versal law." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

BUT  time  will  not  wait,  nor  will  the  exigencies  of 
life  forego,  because  two  people  love  one  another. 

Immediately  on  Perry's  departure,  Chatterton 
sought  her  father,  and,  in  the  inventor's  Utopian 
paradise,  told  of  her  engagement.  The  General  was 
sympathetic  and  affectionate,  but  prudently  withheld 
his  official  consent  till  a  higher  authority  had  been 
consulted.  Chatterton  wisely  awaited  the  morrow 
before  carrying  her  case  to  the  superior  court. 

When  the  morning  came,  Mrs.  Chester — having 
granted  her  daughter  audience  under  a  flag  of  truce 
— heard  the  announcement,  and  bowed  her  head  to 
the  blow,  as  a  good  Christian  should.  Happily  for 
Chatterton,  Mrs.  Underdunk's  card  was  handed  her 
at  this  critical  juncture,  and,  under  the  impulse  of 
an  inspiration,  she  flew  to  the  parlor.  A  few  words 
and  blushes  explained  the  situation,  and  the  old  lady 
cheerfully  undertook  to  mediate.  Of  course  it  was 
done  artistically.  In  the  presence  of  her  mother  the 
younger  hypocrite  retold  her  news,  and  the  older  one 
accepted  it  as  of  first  hand  ;  and  so  on.  There  was  a 
deal  of  guile  in  the  means  used,  but,  really,  the  end 
justified  it.  Perry's  ancestors  were  brought  into 
prominence  with  telling  effect.  Good  souls !  they 
would  have  been  indeed  astonished  had  they  heard 


280  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

their  easy-going,  eminently  respectable  lives  credited 
with  certain  ultra-fashionable  fads.  As  result,  Mrs. 
Chester  was  revived  from  a  state  of  coma  to  a  condi- 
tion of  plaintive  self-pity,  and  from  that,  again,  to 
languid,  valetudinarian  interest.  However,  it  would 
not  do  to  yield  too  soon,  therefore  she  reserved  final 
judgement ;  after  the  manner  of  those  who  deem  it 
undignified  to  be  gracious  at  short  notice. 

Perry  absorbed  his  new  happiness  till  it  permeated 
every  crevice  of  his  heart.  To  him  it  seemed  as  if  all 
the  events  of  his  life  had  teleologically  ministered 
to  his  present  state.  For  its  completeness,  happiness 
must  have  this  consciousness  of  culmination.  This 
characteristic  distinguishes  it  from  mere  pleasure, 
which,  for  lack  of  root,  is  evanescent. 

In  the  morning  of  the  first  sunrise  upon  his  felic- 
ity he  received  the  following  letter  from  Mrs.  Dare  : 

"  MY  DEAK  MB.  PERRY  :  I  have  kept  my  prom- 
ise. You  were  right,  he  did  not  rise  above  prejudice. 
He  was  very  violent,  but  this  proves  his  love  ;  I  for- 
gave him,  which  proves  mine.  Do  look  after  him, 
he  is  so  reckless  ! 

"  Think  of  me  sometimes.  I  renew  my  promise 
to  let  you  know  before  I  drown  myself,  go  on  the 
stage,  enter  a  nunnery,  or  marry.  It  seems  odd  to 
think  that  any  one  cares  ! 

"  I  leave  to-night  for  Boston.  From  there  I  go 
I  know  not  where. 

"  I  wish  I  could  do  good  to  some  one  somehow, 
now  that  I  am  in  the  mood.  No  doubt  it  will  soon 
pass  ;  however,  for  the  present  I  am  penitent  and  so- 
ber-minded, God  knows,  and  oh,  so  unhappy  ! 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  281 

"  I  have  seen  my  child  once  more.  If  you  survive 
me,  tell  her  all  the  truth  about  her  unfortunate 
mother, 

AKIADNE  DAKE. 

"P.  S. — If  Atherton  is  at  any  time  ill  or  in  danger, 
let  me  know." 

Perry,  this  despairing  letter  still  in  his  hand, 
walked  to  the  window  and  gazed  out  upon  the  street. 
Would  he  have  done  better  to  have  allowed  things  to 
take  their  course  ?  No,  he  could  not  think  that. 
Nothing,  he  reasoned,  could  justify  deliberate  decep- 
tion, or  release  an  accessory  of  complicity. 

As  he  mused  he  sighed  to  think  what  a  sad  com- 
ment on  life  it  was  that  his  new  joy  should  on  the 
first  day  of  its  existence  stumble  over  a  grave  of  buried 
hopes. 

Intent  upon  settling  the  matter  of  the  Virginia 
estate  as  soon  as  possible,  Felix  made  an  early  call  on 
Mr.  Chatterton. 

Mr.  Chatterton,  in  his  ornate  apartment,  his  gor- 
geous smoking-jacket,  and  his  most  petulant  mood, 
was  not  an  attractive  object. 

Salutations  over,  Perry  opened  his  budget  and 
presented  Miss  Chester's  offer. 

Mr.  Chatterton's  indignation  knew  no  bounds — in 
fact,  he  overdid  it.  "What,  a  Chatterton  of  Chatter- 
ton  part  with  the  patriarchal  estate  !  Not  an  acre  ! 
But  when  Perry  accepted  this  as  conclusive,  and  rose 
to  leave,  the  storm  moderated  somewhat. 

For  some  days  Mr.  Chatterton  had  anticipated  the 
preliminary  move  in  an  attempt  to  wrench  the  estate 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

from  him  by  means  of  the  agreement  whereby  he  had 
bound  himself  to  cede  it  in  case  he  should  clear  the 
sum  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars  in  one  year  through 
the  patents  company.  Of  course  he  knew  that  Gen- 
eral Chester  would  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  prove 
that  he  had  made  this  profit.  If  this  had  been  the 
only  danger  Mr.  Chatterton  would  have  defied  dis- 
lodgment ;  but  this  was  not  the  only  danger.  He  felt 
that  he  would  certainly  lose  caste  if  the  unsympathet- 
ic public,  the  censorious,  hard-hearted  public,  should 
discover  the  means  he  had  used  to  dispose  of  his  stock. 
From  the  law  he  had  nothing  to  fear  save  its  public- 
ity ;  but  that  he  dreaded.  Now  that  he  was  offered 
a  bonus  of  five  thousand  dollars  and  no  questions 
asked — no,  he  meant  no  impertinent  delving  for  in- 
formation— he  was  overjoyed.  He  had  discounted 
the  mortification — as  he  would  have  expressed  it — 
when,  some  days  before,  he  realized  with  dismay  that 
his  cupidity  had  run  away  with  his  discretion.  How- 
ever^ here  was  a  result  just  five  thousand  dollars  bet- 
ter than  that  he  had  expected.  But  the  William 
Chattertons  of  this  world  do  not  cheapen  themselves 
— at  least  so  they  imagine — and  hence  the  overwrought 
indignation  of  this  especial  William. 

Perry  understood  human  nature  well — unless  per- 
sonally implicated ;  then  he  was  liable,  as  we  know, 
to  prove  the  rule  by  a  flagrant  exception — and  in  this 
case  made  excellent  use  of  the  knowledge  by  keeping 
silent.  Mr.  Chatterton  fretted  and  scolded  and 
threatened  in  vain  ;  Felix  let  him  do  all  the  running 
himself,  and  he  finally  capitulated,  and  wrote  out  an 
acceptance  of  the  offer. 

But,  as  Perry  departed,  Mr.  Chatterton  fired  after 


A    VIRGINIA    INHERITANCE.  283 

him  a  Parthian  arrow  :  "I  refuse  to  wrangle  ;  I  sacri- 
fice ray  patrimony  to  my  peace." 

Perry  mentally  attributed  the  dignity  to  the  dol- 
lars, but,  with  commendable  self-restraint,  refrained 
from  overt  taunt. 

As  he  hurried  toward  Madison  Avenue  to  impart 
the  joyful  news  of  the  success  of  the  negotiation,  he 
determined  that  for  the  future  his  path  in  life  should 
seldom  bisect  the  orbit  of  this  purveyor  of  contempti- 
ble trifles,  this  second-hand  dealer  in  refurbished  wit, 
this  speculator  in  the  foibles  of  the  fatuous — his  pom- 
posity, Chatterton  the  Great. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  redemption  of  her  old  homestead  so  modified 
the  rigor  of  Mrs.  Chester's  resentment  that  neuralgia 
was  again  in  abeyance,  and  permission  was  given 
Chatterton  to  consider  her  engagement  to  Felix  Perry 
ratified. 

And  now  began  brisk  preparations  for  the  return 
to  Virginia,  and  the  chatelaine  of  the  Hall  was  in  her 
element  and  radiant.  -  General  Chester,  too,  was 
pleased,  his  late  disappointment  forgotten,  for  his 
patents  were  in  the  hands  of  an  agent  who  promised 
great  things,  which  constituted  him  an  agent  after 
the  inventor's  own  heart.  In  vain  Chatterton  tried 
to  show  that  a  salaried  representative  would  be  natu- 
rally inclined  to  magnify  his  office ;  her  father  re- 
fused to  be  discouraged.  Then,  again,  he  was  to  re- 


284:  -A-    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

turn  to  his  beloved  laboratory,  and  to  the  open  coun- 
try where  artificial  irrigation  could  be  tested. 

The  General  had  a  perennial  source  of  interest, 
his  inventions  ;  his  wife,  her  social  pre-eminence,  her 
martyr  spirit,  her  neuralgia.  They  were  to  be  envied, 
these  two,  living  their  visionary  lives  in  an  ideal 
world.  It  would  have  been  wanton  cruelty  to  have 
roused  them  from  their  dreaming,  even  if  it  had  been 
possible.  Blessed  is  the  man  that  hath  an  innocent 
delusion. 

Of  Chatterton  and  Perry,  little  need  be  said.  Their 
love  grew  day  by  day.  Each  found  traits  in  the  other 
which  either  harmonized  with  his  or  her  own,  or  else 
aroused  such  gentle  friction  as  expanded  their  mental 
scope.  Super-romantic  souls  would  possibly  have 
missed  vehemence,  passion  —  in  fact,  exaggeration  ; 
but  it  would  have  been  superficial  observation  only. 
These  two  understood  one  another  perfectly ;  both 
knew  that  the  calmness  of  the  surface  proved  that  the 
love  ran  deep.  Their  souls  throve  and  ripened  best 
under  peaceful  conditions,  as  ideal  lives  are  de- 
veloped. 

Atherton  Leigh  had  disappeared.  Chatterton's 
engagement,  following  closely  upon  Mrs.  Dare's  reve- 
lations, had  severed  the  last  link  with  conservatism. 
The  Chesters  were  not  deeply  concerned-  on  account 
of  his  absence,  custom  having  trained  them  to  expect 
every  possible  vagary.  He  seemed  guarded  by  a  spe- 
cial providence,  and  they  had  grown  to  believe  that 
he  could  defy  most  laws  with  impunity. 

Late  one  evening,  as  Perry  was  about  leaving  the 
Madison  Avenue  apartment,  the  front-door  bell  rang. 
In  a  few  moments  Dandy  appeared,  having  announced 


A    VIRGINIA    INHERITANCE.  285 

his  approach  by  the  most  artificial  of  coughs — this 
being  his  idea  of  good  breeding.  He  told  Perry  that 
a  gentleman  wished  to  speak  to  him  upon  a  matter  of 
importance,  and  Felix,  excusing  himself,  went  to  the 
hall  to  discover  the  identity  of  the  mysterious  visitor. 

"  Clyde  !    Anything  wrong  ?  " 

"No,  my  dear  fellow — at  least,  I  trust  nothing 
very  wrong.  That  precious  scamp,  Fallows,  my  rep- 
robate cousin,  and  young  Leigh,  left  the  club  last 
njght  to  go  'slumming.'  A  crazy  scheme,  especially 
in  their  half-tipsy  state.  Fallows  has  not  yet  returned, 
and  neither,  I  suppose,  has  Leigh.  I  am  begged  by 
my  aunt  to  hunt  up  her  scapegrace,  and,  on  hearing 
at  your  rooms  that  you  were  dining  here,  it  occurred 
to  me  to  ask  if  you  would  not  help  me  bring  back  the 
truants;  and,  besides,  I  wished  to  inform  General 
Chester  of  Leigh's  last  escapade." 

"  Of  course  I  will  help  you.  It  was  thoughtful  of 
you  to  come." 

"  Then  hurry  and  make  your  adieux,  for  we  have 
no  time  to  lose.  No,  no  ;  I  will  wait  here." 

Perry's  explanations  were  soon  made  to  Chatter- 
ton,  and  he  rejoined  Clyde.  Dandy,  who  had  over- 
heard what  passed,  begged  to  be  allowed  to  accom- 
pany them  in  the  search.  A  moment's  thought 
convinced  Perry  that  the  old  darky  might  be  of  use 
in  influencing  Atherton,  and,  having  secured  Chat- 
terton's  permission,  he  consented. 

It  was  midnight  before  the  preliminaries  were  all 
arranged.  Police  headquarters  had  been  visited,  and 
the  services  of  a  detective  secured.  He  was  a  dapper 
youth  of  about  five-and-twenty  years  of  age  ;  certainly 
not  the  typical  detective  of  fiction. 


286  ^    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

With  Dandy  on  the  box  beside  the  coachman,  and 
with  Perry,  Clyde,  and  the  detective  inside,  the  car- 
riage rolled  through  the  deserted  streets  toward  that 
hot-bed  of  iniquity,  that  festering  hole  of  vice,  "  the 
slums." 

In  and  out  through  narrow  streets  they  drove, 
through  rows  of  houses  growing  shabbier  and  more 
miserable  as  they  proceeded,  till  finally  the  carriage 
drew  up  to  the  curb,  and  the  party  alighted.  From 
this  point  they  were  to  proceed  on  foot. 

Silently  they  hurried  along  the  muddy,  ill-paved 
streets.  From  time  to  time  they  passed  obstreperous 
groups  of  young  men  and  half -grown  girls,  who 
seemed  inclined  to  contest  their  right  to  invade  their 
domain  ;  but  the  detective,  who  led  the  van,  ignored 
them  and  pressed  on. 

Once  there  were  signs  of  serious  disturbance.  A 
burly  fellow,  goaded  on  by  his  companions,  placed 
himself  across  their  path.  The  detective,  standing 
under  a  gaslight,  without  uttering  a  word,  threw 
back  his  coat  and  revealed  an  officer's  badge.  The 
effect  was  electrical ;  the  noisy  revelers  slunk  away  as 
fast  as  their  inebriety  allowed. 

Still  silently  on  ;  the  way  growing  more  and  more 
vile,  the  houses  more  and  more  squalid  and  decrepit. 

Now  and  then  the  detective  would  enter  some  bar- 
room through  a  side-door — the  law  having  closed  the 
main  entrance  at  that  hour — for  such  information  as 
he  could  gather.  Then  he  would  return  and  they 
would  resume  the  monotonous  tramping.  They  asked 
few  questions,  and  he  volunteered  little  information. 

Finally  they  reached  a  certain  corner  where  a  soli- 
tary policeman  leaned  against  a  patrol-box.  It  was 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  287 

wierd  to  find  this  vindicator  of  the  law  alone  in  the 
jungle  of  vice  and  squalor,  with  little  besides  his  vest- 
ed majesty  to  protect  him  from  the  wild  animals  by 
which  it  was  haunted.. 

The  officers  held  a  whispered  consultation,  and 
then  the  line  of  march  was  resumed,  the  detective 
vouchsafing  the  vague  information,  "  We're  all  right 
now." 

Around  a  turn  and  down  a  noisome  alley,  and 
their  guide,  stopping  and  gathering  the  others  about 
him,  whispered  :  "We  must  be  near  our  gents.  How 
near  or  how  far  I  can't  exactly  say,  but  we'll  soon  find 
out.  Keep  close  to  me  ;  keep  cool ;  pay  no  attention 
to  what  anybody  says  to  you." 

Then  they  turned  another  corner  and  were  in  a 
street  somewhat  broader  than  those  they  had  lately 
traversed. 

A  large  April  moon  hung  in  the  placid  heavens, 
unmoved  by  the  rottenness  and  misery  revealed  by  its 
calm,  silver  light. 

Under  their  feet  a  rutted,  muddy  street ;  above ' 
them,  beetling  walls  in  dingy  degradation  ;  on  every 
side,  crumbling  archways,  doorless  openings,  glass- 
less  windows,  dark,  dank,  oozing  walls  ;  pestilential 
vapors  ;  desolation,  ruin,  pollution. 

But  who  stops  to  consider  these  things !  They 
are  abominations  which  can  be  left  to  the  owls  and 
the  bats  and  be  forgotten.  But  there  is  something 
else  here,  something  infinitely  more  loathsome,  some- 
thing that  can  never  be  forgotten. 

See  those  rat-like  creatures  scudding  from  hole  to 
hole,  from  cellar-ways  to  dark,  foul  alleys — what  are 
they  ?  Step  hurriedly  out  into  the  mud  and  garbage 


288  4    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

to  make  way  for  a  howling  crowd  of  frenzied  male  and 
female  animals — what  are  they  ?  Glance  into  cellars 
and  see  the  carnival  of  vice  of  the  degraded  inmates — 
what  are  they  ?  Human  beings — gentlemen  of  the 
Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice  ;  men  and  women 
and  children — gentlemen  of  the  Society  for  the  Pre- 
vention of  Cruelty  to  Animals ;  heathen — gentlemen 
of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

Perry  hurried  forward  to  the  side  of  the  guide. 
"Is  there  need  of  this  ?"  he  queried.  "  Surely  you 
do  not  expect  to  find  our  friends  here  ?  " 

"  No  ;  but  I  do  expect  to  find  a  pal  who  will  tell 
us  where  they  are,"  responded  the  detective,  rather 
sharply. 

Then  he  paused  and  peered  into  the  darkness. 
Motioning  to  the  others  to  stay  where  they  were,  he 
advanced  a  few  yards  and  gave  a  low,  sharp  whistle. 

A  dark  form  was  seen  to  detach  itself  from  the 
shadow  of  a  house  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  way, 
and  advance  slowly  to  where  the  detective  stood.  In 
a  few  moments  the  figure  recrossed  the  street  and  was 
again  merged  in  the  obscurity. 

Eejoining  the  others,  the  detective  said,  triumph- 
antly :  "  I  knew  it !  Come,  gents,  we  are  near  our 
journey's  end." 

A  few  moments  more,  and  they  stopped  under  a 
gaslight  shining  through  a  red  globe.  Their  guide 
rapped  on  a  door,  which  was  almost  immediately 
opened,  but  a  dark  figure  barred  the  way.  However, 
half  a  dozen  words  from  the  officer  seemed  to  reassure 
the  custodian,  for  he  stepped  to  one  side  and  admitted 
them. 

Along  a  dingily  lighted  passage-way  and  up  a  nar- 


A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE.  289 

row  stair  they  passed,  and  then  along  a  latticed  gal- 
lery to  what  seemed  to  be  a  theatre-box,  opening  on  a 
hall  below. 

Parting  the  curtains  cautiously,  the  detective  mo- 
tioned the  others  to  advance. 

There,  immediately  before  them,  on  the  other  side 
of  the  hall,  sat  Atherton  Leigh  and  his  boon  com- 
panion. 

"  There  is  no  hurry,"  whispered  the  detective, 
recognizing  at  a  glance  that  they  had  found  their 
quarry.  "  "We  had  better  wait  awhile ;  the  propri- 
etor would  resent  having  such  customers  withdrawn 
so  early." 

The  hall  was  large.  A  gallery  ran  around  three 
sides  of  the  room,  with  here  and  there  a  curtained 
box,  such  as  the  one  they  occupied. 

At  one  end  of  the  hall  was  a  stage  and  before  it  an 
orchestra,  discoursing  execrable  music.  The  center 
space  was  evidently  reserved  for  dancing. 

Tables  covered  with  bottles  and  glasses  occupied 
the  space  under  the  gallery.  At  these,  in  riotous 
groups,  were  seated  eighty  or  ninety  persons.  Beetle- 
browed,  sullen-looking  men  ;  tipsy  youths  ;  women 
and  girls  whose  painted  lips  were  grim  with  counter- 
feit merriment. 

Atherton  and  Fallows  were  at  a  table  by  them- 
selves. Others  spoke  to  them  from  time  to  time,  and 
Fallows  answered,  if  he  happened  to  be  awake ;  but 
Leigh  payed  not  the  slightest  attention. 

He  sat  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  his  legs 

stretched  out  straight  before  him,  his  face  lowered  till 

his  chin  rested  on  his  chest.     His  waving,  russet  hair 

was  tossed  in  confusion  over  his  death-white  brow. 

19 


290  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE, 

He  had  pulled  open  his  collar  at  the  neck  ;  his  cravat 
was  gone.  From  above,  the  watchers  could  not  tell 
whether  he  was  awake  or  asleep. 

A  wan,  painted  creature  was  singing  on  the  stage  ; 
but  no  one  paid  the  least  attention  till  the  song  was 
over,  when  the  waiters  and  the  musicians  applauded 
vociferously,  upon  which  the  performance  was  re- 
sumed, and  the  cracked  voice  sang,  with  pitiable  in- 
appropriateness,  a  ditty  about  spring  and  birds  and 
flowers,  and  young,  first  love. 

A  burly  reveler,  at  the  table  next  to  Leigh, 
seemed  to  disapprove  of  the  singing,  for  with  sten- 
torian voice  he  ordered  the  woman  to  cease,  reviling 
her  opprobriously. 

In  an  instant  Leigh  was  on  his  feet,  and,  rushing 
upon  the  brute,  felled  him  to  the  floor. 

Perry  started  up,  but  the  detective  reassured  him. 
"  Don't  be  scared,"  he  said ;  "  your  friends  are  too 
free  with  their  money  for  the  house  to  have  them 
molested."  And  he  was  right.  Instantly  three  or 
four  waiters  siezed  the  fallen  man  and  bore  him,  strug- 
gling and  howling,  from  the  hall. 

A  brawny  Hercules — presumably  the  proprietor — 
ordered  the  band  to  play  on,  and,  moving  in  and  out 
among  the  excited  groups,  by  threatenings,  impreca- 
tions, and,  in  one  or  two  cases,  force,  restored  some- 
thing like  order. 

Leigh  staggered  back  to  his  seat,  and,  after  drain- 
ing his  glass,  lapsed  into  his  former  listlessness. 

Now  dancing  began,  but  there  was  no  real  merri- 
ment. One  would  have  said  it  was  part  of  a  common 
effort  to  cheat  thought,  to  squander  lagging  time. 

"  Come,"  said  Perry,  rising,  "  no  more  of  this.    I 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  291 

shall  speak  to  Leigh."  And,  disregarding  the  detect- 
ive's  advice,  he  descended  to  the  hall  and  strode 
through  the  dancers  to  Atherton. 

Touching  him  gently  on  the  shoulder,  he  said  : 
"  Leigh,  it  is  I,  Perry.  I  want  you  to  come  with  me." 

Atherton  looked  up  with  glassy  eyes.  "  Where  ?  " 
he  asked,  huskily. 

"Home,"  responded  Perry.  "Home,  where  lov- 
ing friends  await  you." 

"No." 

"  Come,  Leigh,  be  a  man.  Consider  how  un- 
worthy of  you  this  is  ! " 

"  Damnation,"  he  hissed,  shaking  himself  free 
from  Perry's  grasp,  "  leave  me  alone.  Who  cares  ; 
who  cares — " 

But  he  did  not  finish  the  sentence.  His  head  fell 
forward  again  on  his  chest. 

Felix  felt  a  light  touch  on  his  arm  as  a  familiar 
voice  whispered:  "Jes'  leab  de  chile  to  me,  Mars' 
Perry.  I'se  sorter  fermillier  like,  you  knows.  Keck- 
on  he'll  take  kindlier  to  home  folks." 

No  one  will  ever  know  the  argument  he  used ; 
what  words  of  childhood,  of  home,  of  the  lonely 
mother  far  off  in  Virginia  the  poor  ex-slave  poured 
into  the  dulled  ears  of  the  reckless  youth.  But  they 
reached  the  heart,  for  Atherton  rose  without  a  word, 
pressed  his  battered  hat  upon  his  head,  and  allowed 
himself  to  be  led  from  the  hall. 

Clyde — the  sullen  Fallows,  scared  into  tractability 
— and  the  others  followed. 

The  passage-way  is  filled  with  revelers.  There 
seems  to  be  a  common  impulse  urging  them  forward. 
Now,  for  the  first  time,  Perry  notices  a  hoarse  mur- 


292  A    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

muring  from  the  street — the  clamor  of  an  excited, 
angry  .mob.  The  explanation  soon  comes  :  as  he 
nears  the  door  he  hears  the  dread  cry,  "  Fire  !" 

They  emerge  upon  the  street. 

Huge  masses  of  smoke  obliterate  the  moon,  curl- 
ing up  from  a  tenement-house  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  way.  Now  and  then  a  fierce  tongue  of  fire 
leaps  up,  parts  the  sullen  cloud  with  a  reft  of  light, 
and  fades  away  into  darkness,  only  to  reappear  with 
renewed  vividness. 

The  street  is  black  with  howling  human  beings. 
They  struggle  with  one  another  in  drunken  fury,  and 
are  scarcely  parted  by  the  plunging  horses  that  drag 
the  heavy  engines  into  place. 

The  police  are  striving  to  control  the  crowd  ;  fire- 
men, intent  only  upon  their  duty,  force  their  intrepid 
way  through  a  sea  of  surging  humanity,  only  to  fight 
a  sea  of  flames  beyond. 

It  is  a  fearful  sight,  tragic  in  its  horrible  variety. 
Cursing,  contending,  fighting  below ;  roaring,  hiss- 
ing, flashing  above. 

Atherton,  although  excited,  makes  no  effort  to 
escape,  but  stands  leaning  heavily  on  Dandy's  shoul- 
der, regaining  his  footing  with  difficulty  when  the 
swaying  crowd  surges  up  against  them. 

The  police  have  cleared  an  open  space  near  the 
burning  building,  and  here  the  firemen  are  laboriously 
raising  huge  ladders  to  the  begrimed  walls. 

Suddenly  tongues  of  flame  burst  from  several 
upper  windows  and  tremble  in  gorgeous  flashes  of 
orange,  scarlet,  and  emerald,  over  the  mass  below, 
lighting  up  the  ghastly  scene,  and  a  roar  goes  up 
which  drowns  the  angry  snorting  of  the  engine,  the 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  293 

dull  booming  of  the  conflagration,  for  in  the  windows 
are  seen  men,  women,  and  children,  frantically  ap- 
pealing for  deliverance. 

Perry  hears  a  sharp  cry  from  Dandy,  and  turns. 
Atherton  is  fighting  his  way  fiercely  through  the 
crowd,  which  parts  before  him  only  to  close  in  about 
him  as  he  struggles  along.  Felix  is  instantly  in  pur- 
suit, followed  by  Dandy  ;  but  the  mob,  incensed  at 
Leigh's  assaults,  impedes  their  passage  as  it  hurls 
upon  them  imprecations  and  threatenings.  Still  they 
stumble  forward,  swaying  from  side  to  side  with  the 
multitude,  till  Perry,  reeling  from  a  blow  on  the  head, 
delivered  by  some  unknown  assailant,  falls  to  the 
ground.  "When  Dandy  has  rescued  him,  and  they  are 
again  pressing  forward,  Atherton  has  disappeared. 

No  need  to  tell  one  another  what  each  fears  ;  it  is 
evident  to  both.  They  force  their  way  to  the  line  of 
police,  where  they  are  sternly  ordered  back.  Felix 
would  disregard  the  order,  but  Dandy  throws  his 
brawny  arms  about  him  and  holds  him  in  a  vise-like 
grasp. 

Fiercer  flash  the  flames,  louder  roar  the  mob  as 
they  surge  up  against  the  living  rampart  of  brave  men 
who  can  scarce  keep  the  space  clear  for  the  toiling 
firemen. 

And  now  the  ladders  are  adjusted,  and  up  them, 
even  into  the  descending  canopy  of  sulphurous  smoke, 
climb  the  rescuers. 

One  by  one  the  inmates  are  taken  from  the  scorch- 
ing building,  and  still  the  hoarse  cries  go  up  from  be- 
low, for  now,  at  an  upper  window,  backed  by  a  sheet 
of  lurid  light,  appears  a  frantic  woman,  a  baby  clasped 
in  her  agonized  arms. 


294  -4    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

But  there  are  no  rescuing  hands  near.  A  ladder 
is  quickly  raised — it  is  too  short,  and  is  left  standing 
idly  there  while  the  hurrying  men  rush  for  a  longer 
one. 

But  the  crowd,  maddened  by  the  delay,  break 
through  all  control.  They  impede,  they  overpower 
the  firemen ;  they  trample  one  another  down  ;  they 
sway  the  huge  ladder,  with  its  mechanical  appliances, 
hither  and  thither,  contending,  in  their  blind  haste, 
its  control  with  those  who  alone  understand  its  use. 

Higher  leap  the  flames  ;  hoarser  howl  the  throng  ; 
over  all  the  ceaseless,  reverberating  diapason  of  the 
relentless  destroyer ;  rending,  crushing,  crumbling 
the  frail  tabernacle  which  holds,  as  a  hive  holds  bees, 
the  hordes  of  destitution. 

Suddenly  a  figure  is  seen  to  pass  rapidly  across  the 
disk  of  fire  in  the  window,  and  to  stand  by  the 
woman's  side. 

A  hush  falls  upon  the  multitude  ;  of  one  accord 
their  hideous  clamor  stilled. 

No  resistance,  no  interference  now.  The  crowd 
silently  falls  back  and  leaves  the  striving  firemen  to 
move  the  ladder  forward  by  its  lumbering  machinery. 

"Will  it  reach  the  window  in  time  ? 

One  man  waits  not  to  ask.  Breaking  away  from 
Dandy,  Perry  rushes  to  the  neglected  ladder  standing 
idly  against  the  wall,  and  rapidly  ascends.  He  has 
not  stopped  to  reason  ;  he  has  no  plan  ;  he  is  scarcely 
conscious  of  what  he  is  doing  ;  it  is  blind  impulse. 

Atherton  sees  him  from  the  window  above.  He 
takes  the  babe  from  the  poor  mother's  relaxing  arms, 
and  snatches  the  shawl  from  her  shoulders. 

The  crowd  below  seizes  his  intention,  and  a  cheer 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  295 

which  outroars  the  hungry  flames  goes  up  to  the  black 
pall  overhead. 

Higher  and  still  higher  Perry  presses  on.  He 
passes  a  window  from  which  pours  a  scorching  blast 
of  air.  He  closes  his  eyes  and  hurries  on  till  he  feels 
only  the  wall  above  him  and  knows  that  he  can  climb 
no  higher. 

His  brain  reels ;  he  is  choking  for  air  and  gasps 
painfully.  A  sea  of  incandescent  vapor  rises  and 
falls  and  rises  again  about  him  in  horrible,  scorching 
waves.  But  still  he  does  not  descend  ;  he  is  vaguely 
intent  upon  saving  Atherton. 

Suddenly  adown  the  sulphurous  cloud  roll  the 
tones  of  a  well-known  voice  ;  he  looks  up.  There,  a 
few  feet  above  him,  lighted  by  the  opalescent  glare, 
shines  a  resolute,  undaunted  face. 

Slowly,  cautiously,  something  is  lowered  to  him  ; 
he  disengages  an  arm  and  clasps  it  close.  Once  more 
he  looks  up  ;  the  face  is  still  there — to  his  dying  day 
he  will  believe  that  it  smiled. 

Higher  yet  leaps  the  hierarchy  of  fire  to  claim  its 
sacred  victims  ;  shriller  on  the  blast  shrieks  the  de- 
stroyer. 

The  panting  throng  below  urge  on  the  men  with 
the  ladder.  It  is  now  in  place,  right  over  the  one 
down  which  Perry  slowly  creeps,  the  baby  pressed 
against  his  breast. 

Too  late  ;  too  late  !  The  crowd  is  stilled  in  im- 
pulsive expectation  ;  the  firemen  pause  at  the  throb- 
bing hose,  for  there  is  an  ominous  crunching — mill- 
ions of  sparks  fly  high  into  the  dun  cloud  above ; 
a  roar  as  of  a  cataract  of  sound  drowns  the  hollow 
groan  from  the  shuddering  multitude  below,  and  the 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

window — clearly  defined    by  the  lurid    glare  from 
within — is  empty. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

A  LONG,  shrill  whistle  and  then  two  sharp,  angry 
whistles,  and  the  train  slacks  speed,  moves  more  and 
more  slowly,  and  finally  comes  to  a  stand-still  at 
Braddox  Station. 

Armed  with  his  bag  and  umbrella,  as  when  he  first 
arrived  here  a  year  ago,  Perry  descends  to  the  platform 
and  looks  about  him. 

He  is  conscious  of  a  chill  of  disappointment ;  there 
is  no  one  to  meet  him  from  the  Hall. 

There  is  the  taciturn  butter-nut  man  lying  in  the 
self-same  attitude  on  the  self-same  bench.  Closer  in- 
spection, however,  reveals  a  certain  difference ;  he 
seems  more  alert  than  formerly.  Possibly  he  recog- 
nizes Perry's  claim  to  greater  consideration  on  a  sec- 
ond visit  than  when  he  came  an  unintroduced  stranger. 

"  No  message  for  me  from  Chatterton  Hall  ?  " 

"  Not  as  I've  heerd  tell." 

Eemembering  the  futility  of  attempting  to  extract 
information  from  this  sphinx,  Felix  consigns  his  trunk 
and  bag  to  his  care,  and  starts  along  the  well-remem- 
bered road.  He  has  not  proceeded  far  when  the 
native  hails  him. 

"I  say!" 

"Well,  what  is  it?" 

"This  yere's  Braddox  Station.  Braddox  Cote- 
House  is  down  that  yer  track." 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  297 

To  which  Perry  good-naturedly  replies  :  "  Thank 
you.  I  remember  my  former  mistake  ;  but  this  time 
I  have  stopped  here  intentionally." 

"  Oh,  all  right ;  but,  if  yer  lose  yer  way,  mebby 
you'll  meet  some  as'll  p'int  it  out." 

Perry  walks  along  rather  dejectedly,  not  having 
recovered  from  his  disappointment.  He  supposes 
there  must  have  been  some  delay  in  the  delivery  of 
his  letter  ;  no  doubt  it  is  still  lying  in  the  post-office 
at  the  court-house.  He  pokes  his  umbrella  rather 
viciously  in  the  moss  by  the  wayside,  muttering,  the 
while,  uncomplimentary  criticism  of  Virginia  dilato- 
riness. 

"Felix!" 

There  she  is,  on  her  mare,  Empress,  under  a 
canopy  of  leaves  formed  by  a  wide-spreading  chestnut. 
As  he  hurries  forward,  a  flush  of  delighted  surprise 
dyeing  his  cheeks,  he  thinks  that  never  has  he  seen 
so  lovely  a  picture.  The  bower  of  green  ;  the  startled 
mare,  standing  with  shoulders  well  up  and  head  high 
in  air ;  Chatterton  leaning  forward,  a  hand  extended 
in  welcome,  her  face  rippling  with  smiles. 

In  an  instant  he  is  by  her  side.  "  My  darling, 
how  good  of  you  !  And  I  thought  you  could  not  have 
received  my  letter,  and  have  sworn,  in  my  wrath,  that 
all  Virginians  procrastinated.  So,  this  ambush  ac- 
counts for  the  facetiousness  of  the  native  at  the  sta- 
tion." 

"  I  am  so  glad  you  are  here  ! "  she  exclaims,  im- 
pulsively. "  I  wished  to  surprise  you  ;  besides,  I  did 
not  care  to  have  the  whole  train  witness  our  meet- 
ing." 

"  If  it  is  to  be  no  more  demonstrative  than  it  has 


298  -A-    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

been  so  far,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  why  you  would 
mind  publicity,"  laughs  Perry,  with  a  gentle  attempt 
to  pull  the  rosy  face  down  to  him. 

"No,  no,  sir  ;  I  have  the  advantage  of  you.  Em- 
press is  my  citadel ;  besides,  you  must  learn  discre- 
tion. We  will  have  none  of  your  advanced,  Yankee 
ideas  down  in  prim  old  Virginia." 

"Why,  it  was  in  'prim  old  Virginia '  that  I  learned 
to  want  to — " 

"  Fie  !  worse  and  worse  !  " 

"  If  you  keep  your  hand  on  my  eyes  I  shall  be  as 
blind  as  Love  himself  ! " 

"  It  does  not  seem  unnatural  for  you  to  be  blind  !" 
But  the  hand  is  removed. 

"  0  Chatterton,  that  is  too  serious  a  matter  for 
jest !  How  blind  I  was  !  But  do  you  regret  it  now  ? 
To  me  it  seems  as  if  just  such  a  shock  was  needed. 
My  soul  was  dislocated,  and  it  required  a  sharp  wrench 
to  replace  it." 

"A  striking  illustration,  I  admit,"  she  responds, 
"  but  not  poetic ;  besides,  professional  zeal  should 
guide  your  choice  of  similes.  But  come,  we  must  be 
moving.  You  are  to  walk." 

"So  it  seems,"  he  answers,  gayly;  "but  why? 
Was  there  no  horse  to  spare  ?" 

She  smiles  down  upon  him.  "  You  walked  this 
road  when  first  our  guardian  saint  led  you  to  me,  and, 
to  continue  our  good  luck,  you  must  walk  it  again  to- 
day. The  arrangement  pleases  me.  I  love  to  look 
down  upon  you ;  it  gives  me  a  sense  of  proprietor- 
ship." 

"A  startling  revelation  of  a  most  alarming  pro- 
pensity !  By  the  way,  sweetheart,  did  you  know  that 


A  VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE:  299 

this  is  the  anniversary  of  the  first  time  I  traversed  this 
road?" 

"  Of  course  I  did.  Therein  consists  the  appro- 
priateness of  keeping  you  afoot." 

As  they  walk  along,  Perry  keeps  his  hand  on  the 
mare's  neck,  to  her  evident  annoyance.  Still,  she 
bears  the  infliction  with  tolerable  patience,  in  re- 
sponse to  her  mistress's  admonition. 

"Do  you  know,  Felix —  By  the  way,  have  you 
noticed  that  I  have  twice  called  you  Felix  ?  " 

"  What  a  question  !  Of  course  I  have.  But  I 
feared  to  comment,  lest  you  should  be  scared  back  to 
'Mr.  Perry.'  Why  was  it  so  impossible  to  treat  a 
Christian  to  his  Christian  name  in  New  York  ?  " 

"  Because — you  will  think  me  foolish — I  reserved 
if  for  Virginia." 

"Nothing  you  do,  Chatterton,  is  foolish." 

"  So,  you  have  changed  your  tone.  Do  you  re- 
member how  loftily  you  chid  me  a  year  ago  for  claim- 
ing to  have  opinions  unbased  upon  experience  ?  How 
is  it  with  you  now,  do  you  accord  experience  as  high 
a  place  as  ever  ?  " 

"And  why  not  ?  I  did  claim  that  as  a  teacher 
experience  stands  un equaled,  and  subsequent  events 
have  not  discredited  the  assumption.  They  have 
rather  proved  that  whereas  I  thought  I  had  gradu- 
ated, I  needed  an  additional  term.  From  henceforth 
compulsory  education  has  my  enthusiastic  approval." 

"  But  how  is  it  with  me  ?  I  have  had  so  little  ex- 
perience. Must  I  go  straight  through  the  whole 

?M 

"  Oh,  it  is  quite  different  with  you.  Alexander 
the  Great  led  an  army  at  seventeen  ;  Byron  read  Vir- 


300  ^    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE. 

gil  at  ten  ;  Chatterton  Chester  is  a  psychological  phe- 
nomenon at — by  the  way,  how  old  are  you  ?" 

"  I  refuse  to  criminate  myself.  Even  your  privi- 
leges have  their  limits  ! " 

"  Well,  it  is  only  a  question  of  a  few  days." 
.    "  How  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  The  register  of  the  parish  church  at  the  court- 
house, next  Thursday.  Oh,  my  darling,  what  have 
I  done  to  deserve  such  happiness  ?  " 

She  looks  down  at  him,  tenderly.  "  Happiness  is 
a  free  gift,  not  a  reward." 

"At  least,  experience  prepares  one,"  he  asserts, 
stoutly. 

"  Yes,"  she  answers,  "  it  does.  For  once  I  sub- 
scribe unreservedly  to  your  pet  theory.  0  Felix, 
the  church  has  been  plastered  ! " 

"  No  !  Well,  I  did  not  expect  it.  When  we  were 
at  the  court-house  a  pile  of  antediluvian  mortar  and 
sundry  bundles  of  decrepit  laths  bore  testimony  to 
the  thwarted  good  intentions  of  some  one  in  the  dim 
past,  which  intentions  you  poetically  informed  me 
had  been  nipped  by  the  frost." 

They  have  stopped  upon  the  eminence  whence 
he  had,  a  year  before,  swept  the  horizon  for  a  human 
habitation.  As  on  the  other  occasion,  darkness,  in 
ever-deepening  shades,  is  creeping  onward  in  the 
track  of  the  retiring  god. 

They  gaze  in  silence  at  the  far-off,  purple  mount- 
ains, lying  slumberously  beneath  the  great,  white 
clouds  which  sail  majestically  away  upon  a  sea  of 
crimson  glory. 

Presently  Perry  says:  "It  was  here  Atherton 
challenged  me,  poor  fellow  !  How  time  softens  re- 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  3Q1 

sentment !  I  was  indignant  with  him  then,  but  now 
I  would  gladly  bear  with  his  folly  if  I  could  but  re- 
call the  brave  spirit." 

He  is  still  gazing  at  the  setting  sun,  and  does  not 
see  the  tearful  eyes  turned  down  upon  him.  In  low, 
serious  tones  she  says  :  "I  love  to  hear  you  speak  of 
Atherton.  You  were  always  gentle  with  him.  Oh, 
he  knew  it,  poor  fellow  !  In  a  generous  moment  he 
told  me  that  he  could  not  cast  off  your  influence. 
His  life  was  a  sad  mistake,  from  beginning  to  end. 
But  allowance  should  be  made  on  account  of  his  un- 
usual temptations.  You  always  made  such  allow- 
ance ;  nothing  you  have  ever  done  becomes  you  as 
well ! " 

He  glances  up  in  surprise.  She  continues  :  "  Your 
very  unconsciousness  increases  the  merit." 

"  Please  do  not  praise  me,"  he  urges.  "  You  for- 
get how  I  misjudged  you.  That  is  my  unpardonable 
sin." 

But  she  will  not  have  it  so.  "  All  of  us  are  weak 
in  some  directions.  Even  when  you  were  blinded  you 
did  not  visit  your  disappointment  on  Atherton.  There 
is  a  moral  distinction  between  direct  and  reflected  in- 
justice." 

"And  my  gentle  casuist  finds  that —  ?" 

"Don't  laugh,  please.  I  find  that  your  injustice 
to  me  was  unwarranted  ;  but  that,  doubting  me,  your 
generosity  to  Atherton  was  remarkable." 

But  he  refuses  to  consider  the  question  seriously. 
"  I  can  not  bring  myself  to  admire  the  toad  merely 
because  of  the  jewel  in  its  head." 

They  have  resumed  their  way.  The  twilight  is 
deepening  into  night.  Off  in  the  west  the  clouds, 


302  <*    VIRGINIA   INHERITANCE. 

now  black,  are  edged  with  threads  of  gold.  Fading 
streaks  of  crimson  and  violet  still  linger  above  the 
dark  mountain-range,  but  the  atmosphere  is  gone 
from  the  landscape.  Frogs  are  croaking,  not  un- 
pleasantly, in  the  marshes  ;  there  are  other  odd, 
woody  sounds — Nature's  tiny  creatures  good-nighting 
one  another. 

The  mare  has  resigned  herself  to  the  situation, 
and  moves  along  mincingly,  as  good  horses  do  when 
it  is  made  clear  to  them  that  they  are  expected  to  be 
considerate  and  unselfish. 

And  now  they  turn  the  corner  of  the  wood,  and 
the  Hall  is  before  them,  its  windows  aglow.  From 
the  door  a  broad  streak  of  light  shines  out  hospitably 
upon  the  road. 

"  Oh,  Chatterton,  how  different  life  is  now  to 
what  it  was  before  I  knew  you  !  It  is  so  full  of  mean- 
ing— so  rich  in  promise  ! " 

She  has  reined  in  her  horse,  and  now  leans  low 
down  toward  him  as  she  whispers  :  "  I  am  the  hap- 
piest woman  in  all  the  world  ! " 

Ah,  well !  there  are  other  moments  in  life  when 
one  realizes  what  felicity  means,  but  compared  with 
such  a  moment,  how  few  ! 

They  resume  their  way,  and  approach  the  house 
along  the  broad  patch  of  light  from  the  front  door. 

"Is  that  you,  Dandy?" 

"  Dat's  me  sure  'nuff,  Mars'  Perry,  and  I'se  mighty 
glad  to  see  yer  back  agin. " 

Perry  aids  Chatterton  to  dismount,  and,  as  the  old 
darky  leads  off  the  mare,  they  ascend  the  porch- 
steps.  At  the  top  Chatterton  pauses. 

"  Dandy ! " 


A    VIRGINIA  INHERITANCE.  3Q3 

"  Yes,  miss  ?  "  comes  from  the  impenetrable  dark- 
ness out  on  the  road. 

"  Is  baby  asleep  ?  I  should  like  Mr.  Perry  to  see 
him." 

"  Laws,  yes,  Miss  Chat ;  de  baby's  done  gone  'sleep 
long 'go!" 

"  The  baby  ?  "  queries  Perry,  "  what  baby  ?" 

"The  baby  you  and  Atherton  saved  from  the  fire. 
Of  course  you  know  that  Mrs.  Leigh  adopted  him. 
But  the  poor  old  lady  died  a  week  ago,  and  now  the 
little  waif  is  to  live  with  us." 

"  Well !  "  he  exclaimed  ;  "  nowhere  on  this  revolv- 
ing sphere  but  in  Virginia  would  people  be  found  so 
tender-hearted,  so  generous,  and  yet  so — " 

"  Oh,  dear  Felix,  do  be  careful ! " 

"  What  is  it,  my  darling  ?" 

"  The  hole  in  the  porch-floor ! " 


THE  END. 


